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Are Investors Undervaluing APA (APA) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader 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 stock to keep an eye on is APA (APA - Free Report) . APA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.22 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.45. Over the past year, APA's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.88 and as low as 4.09, with a median of 6.45.

We should also highlight that APA 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. APA's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.09. APA's P/B has been as high as 1.63 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.20, over the past year.

Investors could also keep in mind SM Energy (SM - Free Report) , another Oil and Gas - Exploration and Production - United States stock with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Furthermore, SM Energy holds a P/B ratio of 0.64 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 3.09. SM's P/B has been as high as 1.30, as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.79 over the past 12 months.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in APA and SM Energy strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, APA and SM look like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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