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Are Investors Undervaluing Delta Air Lines (DAL) 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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. DAL is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.19 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.49. Over the past 52 weeks, DAL's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.85 and as low as 7.16, with a median of 8.54.

Investors will also notice that DAL has a PEG ratio of 0.54. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. DAL's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.88. Within the past year, DAL's PEG has been as high as 0.85 and as low as 0.39, with a median of 0.53.

Another notable valuation metric for DAL is its P/B ratio of 2.37. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.46. DAL's P/B has been as high as 3.21 and as low as 2.29, with a median of 2.85, over the past year.

Finally, our model also underscores that DAL has a P/CF ratio of 5.26. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 5.62. Over the past 52 weeks, DAL's P/CF has been as high as 7.48 and as low as 5.08, with a median of 6.62.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Delta Air Lines's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that DAL is an impressive value stock right now.


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