Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Murphy Oil (MUR) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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.

Murphy Oil (MUR - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MUR is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. MUR has a P/S ratio of 1.94. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.01.

Investors could also keep in mind Riley Exploration Permian (REPX - Free Report) , another Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stock with a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and Value grade of A.

Riley Exploration Permian sports a P/B ratio of 1.05 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.17. In the past 52 weeks, REPX's P/B has been as high as 1.57, as low as 0.92, with a median of 1.16.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Murphy Oil and Riley Exploration Permian are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, MUR and REPX feels like a great value stock at the moment.

Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)

Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.

Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in