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Is Mattel (MAT) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 company value investors might notice is Mattel (MAT - Free Report) . MAT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.06 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 24.18. Over the past 52 weeks, MAT's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.09 and as low as 10.98, with a median of 12.80.

Investors will also notice that MAT has a PEG ratio of 0.91. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. MAT's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.12. Over the past 52 weeks, MAT's PEG has been as high as 1.59 and as low as 0.87, with a median of 1.18.

Investors should also recognize that MAT has a P/B ratio of 2.79. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 5.83. Over the past year, MAT's P/B has been as high as 3.38 and as low as 2.59, with a median of 3.10.

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. MAT has a P/S ratio of 1.2. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.66.

Finally, we should also recognize that MAT has a P/CF ratio of 7.84. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. MAT's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 27.38. Over the past year, MAT's P/CF has been as high as 26.50 and as low as 7.29, with a median of 11.42.

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


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