Are These Transportation Stocks Undervalued Right Now?

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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

One company to watch right now is Safe Bulkers (SB). SB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 2.76, which compares to its industry's average of 4.05. Over the past year, SB's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.73 and as low as 2.76, with a median of 4.38.

Another notable valuation metric for SB is its P/B ratio of 0.66. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. SB's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 0.95. Over the past 12 months, SB's P/B has been as high as 1.12 and as low as 0.26, with a median of 0.72.

Finally, we should also recognize that SB has a P/CF ratio of 1.91. 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. SB's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 5.96. Over the past year, SB's P/CF has been as high as 7.40 and as low as 1.91, with a median of 3.43.

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) may be another strong Transportation - Shipping stock to add to your shortlist. ZIM is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Additionally, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services has a P/B ratio of 1.94 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 0.95. For ZIM, this valuation metric has been as high as 11.79, as low as -21.22, with a median of 2.09 over the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Safe Bulkers and ZIM Integrated Shipping Services strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, SB and ZIM look like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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