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5 Stocks With Low Price-to-Cash Flow Ratio to Buy Now

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While coronavirus-inflicted challenges persist, a constructive economic policy is playing a key role in steering the market for now. As and when business organizations and industries start to operate at an optimum level, this will potentially ramp up hiring activity, and in turn spending, thereby contributing to GDP. Markedly, the Federal Reserve raised its 2021 real GDP forecast to 7% from 6.5%. The Jerome Powell-led Fed envisions unemployment rate to be 4.5% in 2021.

With the economy gradually making its way out of the woods, quite a few market pundits are placing their bets on value stocks. Investment in stocks made on diligent value analysis is usually considered one of the best practices. In value investing, investors pick stocks that are cheap but fundamentally sound. There are a number of ratios to identify value stocks but none alone can conclusively determine their inherent potential.

Each ratio helps an investor to understand a particular aspect of the company’s business. One such ratio, Price to Cash Flow (or P/CF), can work wonders in stock picking, if used prudently. This metric evaluates the market price of a stock relative to the amount of cash flow that the company is generating on a per share basis – the lower the number, the better.

You must be wondering why we are considering this when the most widely used valuation metric is Price/Earnings (or P/E). Well, one of the important factors that makes P/CF a highly dependable metric is that operating cash flow adds back non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization to net income, truly diagnosing the financial health of a company.

Analysts caution that a company’s earnings are subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. Then again, cash flow is quite reliable. Net cash flow unveils how much money a company is actually generating and how effectively management is deploying the same.

A positive cash flow indicates an increase in the company’s liquid assets. This gives the company the means to settle debt, shell out for its expenses, reinvest in its business, endure downturns and finally undertake shareholder-friendly moves. Negative cash flow implies a decline in the company’s liquidity, which, in turn, lowers its flexibility to support these endeavors.

However, an investment decision solely based on the P/CF metric may not fetch the desired results. To identify stocks that are trading at a discount, you should expand your search criteria and take into account price-to-book ratio, price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-sales ratio. Adding a favorable Zacks Rank and a Value Score of A or B to your search criteria should lead to even better results as these eliminate the chance of falling into a value trap.

The Bargain Hunting Strategy

Here are the parameters for selecting true value stocks:

P/CF less than or equal to X-Industry Median.

Price greater than or equal to 5: The stocks must all be trading at a minimum of $5 or higher.

Average 20-Day Volume greater than 100,000: A substantial trading volume ensures that the stock is easily tradable.

P/E using (F1) less than or equal to X-Industry Median: This parameter shortlists stocks that are trading at a discount or are equal to its peers.

P/B less than or equal to X-Industry Median: A lower P/B compared with the industry average implies that there is enough room for the stock to gain.

P/S less than or equal to X-Industry Median: The P/S ratio determines how a stock price compares to the company’s sales — the lower the ratio the more attractive the stock is.

PEG less than 1: The ratio is used to determine a stock's value by taking the company's earnings growth into account. PEG ratio gives a more complete picture than P/E ratio. A value of less than 1 indicates that the stock is undervalued and that investors need to pay less for a stock that has robust earnings growth prospect.

Zacks Rank less than or equal to 2: Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) stocks are known to outperform irrespective of the market environment.

Value Score of less than or equal to B: Our research shows that stocks with a Style Score of A or B when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or 2 offer the best upside potential.

Here are five of the 21 stocks that qualified the screening:

Boise Cascade Company (BCC - Free Report) , which manufactures wood products and distributes building materials in the United States and Canada, sports a Zacks Rank #1. It has an expected EPS growth rate of 10.2% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 51.3%, on average. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (VSH - Free Report) , which manufactures and supplies discrete semiconductors and passive electronic components, has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 44.6%, on average. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has an expected EPS growth rate of 20.3% for three-five years.

ON Semiconductor Corporation (ON - Free Report) , the manufacturer and seller of semiconductor components for various electronic devices, has a Zacks Rank #2 and an expected EPS growth rate of 45.3% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 142.5%, on average.

Sanmina Corporation (SANM - Free Report) provides integrated manufacturing solutions, components, products and repair, logistics and after-market services globally. This Zacks Rank #2 company has an expected EPS growth rate of 12% for three-five years. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 55.2%, on average.

ArcBest Corporation (ARCB - Free Report) has an expected EPS growth rate of 15.3% for three-five years and a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 618.3%, on average. This provider of freight transportation and integrated logistics services currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

Disclosure: Performance information for Zacks’ portfolios and strategies are available at: https://www.zacks.com/performance.

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