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Are Investors Undervaluing MasTec (MTZ) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

MasTec (MTZ - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MTZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that MTZ has a P/B ratio of 2.47. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 3.15. Over the past year, MTZ's P/B has been as high as 3.58 and as low as 1.38, with a median of 2.54.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MTZ has a P/S ratio of 0.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.68.

Finally, investors should note that MTZ has a P/CF ratio of 11.98. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. MTZ's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.74. Over the past year, MTZ's P/CF has been as high as 16.99 and as low as 6.59, with a median of 12.27.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in MasTec's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, MTZ looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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