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Are Investors Undervaluing Barrick Gold (GOLD) 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.

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 company value investors might notice is Barrick Gold (GOLD - Free Report) . GOLD is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 14.22, which compares to its industry's average of 15.91. Over the last 12 months, GOLD's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.29 and as low as 12.16, with a median of 15.07.

We also note that GOLD holds a PEG ratio of 0.43. 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. GOLD's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.53. Within the past year, GOLD's PEG has been as high as 7.82 and as low as 0.35, with a median of 1.14.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. GOLD has a P/S ratio of 3. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.25.

Finally, our model also underscores that GOLD has a P/CF ratio of 10.28. 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 13.45. Over the past 52 weeks, GOLD's P/CF has been as high as 15.14 and as low as 7.45, with a median of 8.95.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Barrick Gold's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that GOLD is an impressive value stock right now.


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