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Should Value Investors Buy SunCoke Energy (SXC) Stock?

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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.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 SunCoke Energy (SXC - Free Report) . SXC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SXC's P/B ratio of 1.22. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.65. Within the past 52 weeks, SXC's P/B has been as high as 1.51 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.15.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. SXC has a P/S ratio of 0.4. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.9.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that SXC has a P/CF ratio of 3.18. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. SXC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 3.20. Over the past year, SXC's P/CF has been as high as 4.61 and as low as 2.02, with a median of 3.

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


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