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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
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.
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 stock to keep an eye on is Methanex (MEOH). MEOH is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.88 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.07. Over the past year, MEOH's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.13 and as low as 9.66, with a median of 12.95.
We should also highlight that MEOH has a P/B ratio of 1.32. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.85. Over the past 12 months, MEOH's P/B has been as high as 1.67 and as low as 1.08, with a median of 1.38.
Finally, our model also underscores that MEOH has a P/CF ratio of 5.67. 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. MEOH's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10. MEOH's P/CF has been as high as 6.73 and as low as 4.54, with a median of 5.80, all within the past year.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Methanex is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MEOH sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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