Should Value Investors Consider American Axle (AXL) Stock?

Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. AXL stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, American Axle has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 4.8, as you can see in the chart below:

This level actually compares favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 20.62. Also, if we focus on the long-term PE trend, American Axle’s current PE level puts it slightly below its midpoint of 4.89 over the past five years.

The stock’s PE however compares quite favorably with the Auto-Tires-Trucks Market’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 12.36. This indicates that the stock is undervalued right now, compared to its peers.

Meanwhile American Axle has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of 4.36, which is slightly lower than the current level. So, so it is fair to say that a more value-oriented path is ahead of the stock in the near term.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, American Axle has a P/S ratio of just 0.16. This is quite lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.56x right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is much below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, American Axle currently has a Value Score of A, putting it into the top 20% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes American Axle a solid choice for value investors.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though American Axle might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth Score of B and a Momentum Score of B. This gives AXL a Zacks VGM score — or its overarching fundamental grade — of A. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>).

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been downbeat. While the current-quarter estimate has seen no upward or downward movements, the current-year estimate has seen no upward and one downward movement over the past two months.

This has had a negative effect on the consensus estimate. While the current-quarter consensus has remained stable over the past two months, the current-year estimate has decreased 1.3%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. Price and Consensus

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. Price and Consensus

American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-chart | American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. Quote

Despite such downbeat analyst sentiments, the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and it is the reason why we are looking for in line performance from the company in the near term.

Bottom Line

American Axle is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. Besides a sluggish industry rank (among Bottom 29% of more than 250 industries), with a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about the stock.

Also, over the past two years, the broader industry has clearly underperformed the market at large, as you can see below:

So, investors might want for analyst estimates, zacks and industry ranks and past industry performance, to turn around in the name first, but once that happens, the stock could be a compelling pick.

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