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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, 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.
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 company to watch right now is Baytex Energy (BTE). BTE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.75 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 13.43. BTE's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.45 and as low as 4.73, with a median of 7.44, all within the past year.
Another notable valuation metric for BTE is its P/B ratio of 0.80. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.99. Over the past 12 months, BTE's P/B has been as high as 1.14 and as low as 0.74, with a median of 0.94.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. BTE has a P/S ratio of 0.75. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.18.
Finally, our model also underscores that BTE has a P/CF ratio of 2.98. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 5.57. BTE's P/CF has been as high as 5.02 and as low as 2.26, with a median of 4.06, all within the past year.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Baytex Energy is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, BTE feels like a great value stock at the moment.