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Should Value Investors Buy These Transportation Stocks?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) . ARCB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.78, while its industry has an average P/E of 18.40. Over the past year, ARCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 97.24 and as low as 8.50, with a median of 12.38.

We should also highlight that ARCB has a P/B ratio of 2.43. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 4.06. Over the past year, ARCB's P/B has been as high as 3.30 and as low as 1.53, with a median of 2.20.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. ARCB has a P/S ratio of 0.55. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.31.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that ARCB has a P/CF ratio of 6.91. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 16.95. ARCB's P/CF has been as high as 11.47 and as low as 5.59, with a median of 8.09, all within the past year.

USA Truck may be another strong Transportation - Truck stock to add to your shortlist. USAK is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Furthermore, USA Truck holds a P/B ratio of 2.20 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 4.06. USAK's P/B has been as high as 2.20, as low as 1.25, with a median of 1.60 over the past 12 months.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in ArcBest and USA Truck strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ARCB and USAK look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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