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Should Value Investors Buy APA (APA) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore 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.

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 company value investors might notice is APA (APA - Free Report) . APA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.52 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.39. Over the past 52 weeks, APA's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.67 and as low as 4.58, with a median of 6.03.

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. APA has a P/S ratio of 1.34. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.76.

Finally, investors should note that APA has a P/CF ratio of 4.38. 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. APA's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 4.67. APA's P/CF has been as high as 4.91 and as low as 2.08, with a median of 3.20, all within the past year.

SM Energy (SM - Free Report) may be another strong Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stock to add to your shortlist. SM is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Additionally, SM Energy has a P/B ratio of 1.46 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.53. For SM, this valuation metric has been as high as 2.07, as low as 0.94, with a median of 1.29 over the past year.

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


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