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Should Value Investors Buy Earthstone Energy (ESTE) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Earthstone Energy . ESTE 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 4.72, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.82. Over the last 12 months, ESTE's Forward P/E has been as high as 5.04 and as low as 1.96, with a median of 2.81.

We should also highlight that ESTE has a P/B ratio of 1.23. 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. ESTE's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.63. Within the past 52 weeks, ESTE's P/B has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.70, with a median of 0.85.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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. ESTE has a P/S ratio of 1.68. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.75.

Finally, we should also recognize that ESTE has a P/CF ratio of 2.64. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 4.86. Within the past 12 months, ESTE's P/CF has been as high as 3.23 and as low as 1.39, with a median of 1.93.

Another great Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stock you could consider is W&T Offshore (WTI - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Furthermore, W&T Offshore holds a P/B ratio of 24.52 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.63. WTI's P/B has been as high as 121.90, as low as -23.39, with a median of 23.28 over the past 12 months.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Earthstone Energy and W&T Offshore's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that ESTE and WTI is an impressive value stock right now.


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