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Are Investors Undervaluing Standard Motor Products (SMP) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Standard Motor Products (SMP - Free Report) . SMP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.64, which compares to its industry's average of 10.50. Over the past year, SMP's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.50 and as low as 5.89, with a median of 8.90.

Investors should also recognize that SMP has a P/B ratio of 1.23. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.72. Over the past year, SMP's P/B has been as high as 1.28 and as low as 0.74, with a median of 1.04.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SMP has a P/S ratio of 0.44. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.98.

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

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