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Should Value Investors Buy BASF (BASFY) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

BASF (BASFY - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. BASFY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.78, while its industry has an average P/E of 16.46. BASFY's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.01 and as low as 7.08, with a median of 9.11, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that BASFY has a P/B ratio of 1.05. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.62. Over the past 12 months, BASFY's P/B has been as high as 1.46 and as low as 0.70, with a median of 0.93.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. BASFY has a P/S ratio of 0.54. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.7.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that BASFY has a P/CF ratio of 5.32. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.63. Within the past 12 months, BASFY's P/CF has been as high as 6.64 and as low as 3.29, with a median of 4.61.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that BASF is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, BASFY sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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