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Are Investors Undervaluing Matson (MATX) Right Now?

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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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of 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.

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.

Matson (MATX - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MATX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 19.80 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 29.37. Over the past year, MATX's Forward P/E has been as high as 28.13 and as low as 12.74, with a median of 16.94.

We should also highlight that MATX has a P/B ratio of 2.16. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.94. Within the past 52 weeks, MATX's P/B has been as high as 2.29 and as low as 1.34, with a median of 1.96.

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. MATX has a P/S ratio of 0.81. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.88.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that MATX has a P/CF ratio of 6.03. 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. MATX's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 20.68. Over the past year, MATX's P/CF has been as high as 9.71 and as low as 4.04, with a median of 6.41.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Matson is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, MATX feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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