Are Investors Undervaluing SunCoke Energy (SXC) 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 to watch right now is SunCoke Energy (SXC). SXC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

We should also highlight that SXC has a P/B ratio of 1.28. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 1.74. Over the past 12 months, SXC's P/B has been as high as 1.51 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.15.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. SXC has a P/S ratio of 0.39. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.92.

Finally, investors should note that SXC has a P/CF ratio of 3.32. 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 3.37. Over the past 52 weeks, SXC's P/CF has been as high as 4.61 and as low as 2.02, with a median of 3.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in SunCoke Energy'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 SXC is an impressive value stock right now.

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