Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing These Construction Stocks Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 company value investors might notice is Boise Cascade (BCC - Free Report) . BCC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.59 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 19.05. Over the past year, BCC's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.99 and as low as 4.45, with a median of 7.46.

We should also highlight that BCC has a P/B ratio of 2.12. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. BCC's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.81. BCC's P/B has been as high as 2.98 and as low as 1.55, with a median of 2.12, over the past year.

LouisianaPacific (LPX - Free Report) may be another strong Building Products - Wood stock to add to your shortlist. LPX is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Furthermore, LouisianaPacific holds a P/B ratio of 4.27 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 3.81. LPX's P/B has been as high as 5.58, as low as 3.37, with a median of 4.46 over the past 12 months.

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


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LPX) - free report >>

Boise Cascade, L.L.C. (BCC) - free report >>

Published in