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Should Value Investors Buy Honda Motor Co. (HMC) Stock?

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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 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 company to watch right now is Honda Motor Co. (HMC - Free Report) . HMC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

We should also highlight that HMC has a P/B ratio of 0.63. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.01. Over the past year, HMC's P/B has been as high as 0.66 and as low as 0.44, with a median of 0.55.

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. HMC has a P/S ratio of 0.3. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.39.

Finally, our model also underscores that HMC has a P/CF ratio of 5.08. 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. HMC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 6.50. Over the past 52 weeks, HMC's P/CF has been as high as 5.31 and as low as 3.12, with a median of 4.11.

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

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