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Is Outokumpu (OUTKY) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company value investors might notice is Outokumpu (OUTKY - Free Report) . OUTKY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

We should also highlight that OUTKY has a P/B ratio of 0.53. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.28. OUTKY's P/B has been as high as 0.87 and as low as 0.41, with a median of 0.60, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. OUTKY has a P/S ratio of 0.21. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.27.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that OUTKY has a P/CF ratio of 1.62. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 4.16. Over the past year, OUTKY's P/CF has been as high as 3.15 and as low as 1.23, with a median of 1.72.

If you're looking for another solid Steel - Producers value stock, take a look at Olympic Steel (ZEUS - Free Report) . ZEUS is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Furthermore, Olympic Steel holds a P/B ratio of 0.73 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 1.28. ZEUS's P/B has been as high as 1.02, as low as 0.50, with a median of 0.66 over the past 12 months.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Outokumpu and Olympic Steel strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, OUTKY and ZEUS look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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