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Are Investors Undervaluing Sumitomo (SSUMY) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. 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.

Sumitomo (SSUMY - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. SSUMY 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 7.35 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.10. Over the last 12 months, SSUMY's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.61 and as low as 6.86, with a median of 8.56.

Investors will also notice that SSUMY has a PEG ratio of 0.55. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. SSUMY's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.75. Over the last 12 months, SSUMY's PEG has been as high as 8.27 and as low as 0.16, with a median of 0.20.

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. SSUMY has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.25.

Finally, investors should note that SSUMY has a P/CF ratio of 6.90. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 15.03. SSUMY's P/CF has been as high as 11.18 and as low as 5.61, with a median of 6.97, all within the past year.

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


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