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Is Marathon Oil (MRO) 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.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 to watch right now is Marathon Oil (MRO - Free Report) . MRO is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MRO's P/B ratio of 0.77. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.31. Within the past 52 weeks, MRO's P/B has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.73, with a median of 0.89.

Finally, we should also recognize that MRO has a P/CF ratio of 2.90. 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. MRO's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 4.05. Within the past 12 months, MRO's P/CF has been as high as 4.64 and as low as 2.71, with a median of 3.28.

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


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