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Should Value Investors Buy Americold Realty Trust (COLD) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Americold Realty Trust (COLD - Free Report) . COLD 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 8.85 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.76. COLD's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.62 and as low as 8.81, with a median of 13.53, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is COLD's P/B ratio of 1.16. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. COLD's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.90. Within the past 52 weeks, COLD's P/B has been as high as 2.39 and as low as 1.16, with a median of 1.80.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. COLD has a P/S ratio of 1.57. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.45.

Finally, our model also underscores that COLD has a P/CF ratio of 11.59. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 14.73. Within the past 12 months, COLD's P/CF has been as high as 92.48 and as low as 11.59, with a median of 22.61.

Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. (PDM - Free Report) may be another strong REIT and Equity Trust - Other stock to add to your shortlist. PDM is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Piedmont Realty Trust, Inc. sports a P/B ratio of 0.72 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.90. In the past 52 weeks, PDM's P/B has been as high as 0.84, as low as 0.46, with a median of 0.63.

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

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