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Should Value Investors Buy Marathon Petroleum (MPC) 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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Marathon Petroleum (MPC - Free Report) . MPC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

MPC is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.26. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MPC's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.57. Over the past 52 weeks, MPC's PEG has been as high as 1.23 and as low as 0.19, with a median of 0.31.

Finally, our model also underscores that MPC has a P/CF ratio of 3.53. 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. MPC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 4.21. Over the past 52 weeks, MPC's P/CF has been as high as 4.93 and as low as 2.91, with a median of 3.68.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Marathon Petroleum is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, MPC feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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