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Should Value Investors Buy Matson (MATX) Stock?

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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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Matson (MATX - Free Report) . MATX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.04, which compares to its industry's average of 20.23. Over the past year, MATX's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.26 and as low as 8.72, with a median of 12.88.

We should also highlight that MATX has a P/B ratio of 3.09. 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. MATX's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 4.33. MATX's P/B has been as high as 3.47 and as low as 2.31, with a median of 2.82, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MATX has a P/S ratio of 1.23. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.28.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Matson's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, MATX looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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