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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.

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.

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 10.48, while its industry has an average P/E of 20.15. OSK's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.73 and as low as 9.52, with a median of 11.27, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that OSK has a P/B ratio of 1.92. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. OSK's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.67. OSK's P/B has been as high as 2.04 and as low as 1.47, with a median of 1.77, over the past year.

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 0.83.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that OSK has a P/CF ratio of 9.48. 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. OSK's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 30.33. Over the past year, OSK's P/CF has been as high as 21.06 and as low as 8.63, with a median of 11.88.

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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