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Should Value Investors Buy Oshkosh (OSK) 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.

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 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.

One company value investors might notice is Oshkosh (OSK - Free Report) . OSK is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.28, while its industry has an average P/E of 20.44. Over the past year, OSK's Forward P/E has been as high as 25.62 and as low as 9.52, with a median of 12.58.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is OSK's P/B ratio of 1.84. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.59. Over the past year, OSK's P/B has been as high as 2.18 and as low as 1.47, with a median of 1.77.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. OSK has a P/S ratio of 0.69. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.9.

Finally, we should also recognize that OSK has a P/CF ratio of 9.98. 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 28.30. Over the past 52 weeks, OSK's P/CF has been as high as 72.13 and as low as 8.63, with a median of 13.11.

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


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