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Should Value Investors Buy Oshkosh (OSK) 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.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Oshkosh (OSK - Free Report) . OSK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.53 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.87. OSK's Forward P/E has been as high as 25.62 and as low as 9.52, with a median of 12.37, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that OSK has a P/B ratio of 1.95. 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. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.63. Within the past 52 weeks, 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 love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. OSK has a P/S ratio of 0.74. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.87.

Finally, we should also recognize that OSK has a P/CF ratio of 10.57. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. OSK's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 28.75. Over the past 52 weeks, OSK's P/CF has been as high as 69.80 and as low as 8.63, with a median of 12.86.

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


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