Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Zacks Value Investor Highlights: Diamondback Energy, KB Home, Pulte, Royal Caribbean and Macy's

Read MoreHide Full Article

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – December 15, 2017 – Zacks Value Investor is a podcast hosted weekly by Zacks Stock Strategist Tracey Ryniec. Every week, Tracey will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life. To listen to the podcast, click here: (https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/285871/how-to-use-a-basic-peg-screen-to-find-value-stocks)

How to Use a Basic PEG Screen to Find Value Stocks

Welcome to Episode #72 of the Value Investor Podcast

Every week, Tracey Ryniec, the editor of Zacks Value Investor portfolio service, shares some of her top value investing tips and stock picks.

As the year winds down, it’s clear that one area of winners in 2017 on Wall Street have been the growth stocks. That extends even to small cap growth which has dominated the small cap universe.

Value, while it is up on the year, hasn’t performed as well as the other investing styles.

Heading into 2018, it’s unclear whether value will see a rebound or if growth will take the crown again. Why not plan on both scenarios?

Finding Value Stocks Using a Basic Screen

One-way value investors can hedge their bets is by buying value stocks that also have growth. This is a very powerful combination, if you can find it.

Tracey decided to run a screen using just a few metrics to see out the growth component along with value.

She started with the Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy), #2 (Buy) or #3 (Hold). By including the Holds that widened the screen as most stocks are found in that category.

Then she combined it with a PEG ratio under 1.0. A PEG under one usually indicates that a company is undervalued but that it also has growth. It’s cheap growth.

And that’s it. Just those two metrics.

Because she started with a wide screen, she got 148 stocks.

Here are some of the stocks that caught her eye in some of the industries everyone will be watching in 2018.

5 Stocks with PEGs Under 1.0

1.      Diamondback Energy (FANG - Free Report) has a PEG of just 0.8. The energy sector was ignored by Wall Street in 2017 even though the earnings outlook is much improved over 2016. Will these stocks see big gains in 2018?

2.     KB Home (KBH - Free Report) is still cheap even though shares have soared in 2017. It has a PEG of 0.7 and is expected to grow earnings another 23% in 2018.

3.     Pulte (PHM - Free Report) is another large homebuilder that no one is talking about. Who cares about the homebuilders when you can buy Nvidia, right? But Pulte is also cheap. It has a PEG ratio of 0.9 and is expected to grow earnings by 37% in 2018. Is it too late to get in?

4.     Royal Caribbean (RCL - Free Report) is still producing double digit earnings growth as consumers want “experiences” and travel fits right into that. This cruise company has a PEG of 0.8. Earnings are expected to jump another 15.4% next year.

5.     Macy’s (M - Free Report) is one of 9 retailers that came up in the screen. It has bounced off its recent lows, when it was trading with a P/E of around 5.0. It now has a P/E of 7.6 and a PEG of 0.9. But will earnings rebound next year as well?

Investors should also take a look at some of the smaller, specialty retailers like The Tile Shop. It has a PEG of 0.8.

Remember, to always research the companies before you buy. This was a basic screen with few metrics. It doesn’t tell you the whole picture.

Additionally, the semiconductors were well-represented in the screen, as they have big growth projections and are cheap.

Tracey Ryniec is the Value Stock Strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the Editor of the Insider Trader and Value Investor services. You can follow her on twitter at @TraceyRyniec and she also hosts the Zacks Market Edge Podcast on iTunes.

About Zacks

Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978. The later formation of the Zacks Rank, a proprietary stock picking system; continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros.  In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time!  Click here for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros.

Follow us on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/zacksresearch

Join us on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts

Zacks Investment Research is under common control with affiliated entities (including a broker-dealer and an investment adviser), which may engage in transactions involving the foregoing securities for the clients of such affiliates.

Media Contact

Zacks Investment Research

800-767-3771 ext. 9339

support@zacks.com

https://www.zacks.com/performance

Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performancefor information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.