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Is Eni (E) Stock Undervalued 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.

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.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Eni (E - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. E is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.78 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.44. Over the past 52 weeks, E's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.53 and as low as 4.44, with a median of 6.78.

Investors will also notice that E has a PEG ratio of 1.07. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. E's industry currently sports an average PEG of 2.07. E's PEG has been as high as 1.13 and as low as 1.06, with a median of 1.09, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is E's P/B ratio of 0.89. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.38. E's P/B has been as high as 0.99 and as low as 0.80, with a median of 0.92, over the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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. E has a P/S ratio of 0.54. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.64.

Finally, we should also recognize that E has a P/CF ratio of 4.26. 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 stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 5.62. Within the past 12 months, E's P/CF has been as high as 4.54 and as low as 2.15, with a median of 3.83.

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


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