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Is Piedmont Office Realty Trust (PDM) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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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.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 Piedmont Office Realty Trust (PDM - Free Report) . PDM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 5.93 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.98. Over the last 12 months, PDM's Forward P/E has been as high as 5.93 and as low as 3.12, with a median of 4.42.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is PDM's P/B ratio of 0.66. 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 1.80. Over the past year, PDM's P/B has been as high as 0.66 and as low as 0.36, with a median of 0.49.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. PDM has a P/S ratio of 1.9. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 4.36.

Finally, we should also recognize that PDM has a P/CF ratio of 7.34. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 16. Within the past 12 months, PDM's P/CF has been as high as 7.34 and as low as 2.22, with a median of 4.44.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Piedmont Office Realty Trust is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, PDM sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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