Should Value Investors Buy Mercer International (MERC) Stock?

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.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Mercer International (MERC). MERC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 5.41, which compares to its industry's average of 6.55. MERC's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.42 and as low as 4.52, with a median of 5.55, all within the past year.

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. MERC has a P/S ratio of 0.49. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.51.

Investors could also keep in mind Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM), an Paper and Related Products stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Shares of Rayonier Advanced Materials are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of -6.59 and a PEG ratio of -2.74 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 6.55 and 0.53, respectively.

RYAM's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 7,351.96 and as low as -421.84, with a median of -8.05, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 3,451.63 and as low as -198.05, with a median of -4.07, all within the past year.

Additionally, Rayonier Advanced Materials has a P/B ratio of 0.28 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 0.68. For RYAM, this valuation metric has been as high as 0.66, as low as 0.21, with a median of 0.48 over the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Mercer International and Rayonier Advanced Materials are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MERC and RYAM sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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