Zacks.com featured highlights include Daqo New Energy, TravelCenters of America, Covenant Logistics Group, United Natural Foods and Greif

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – September 27, 2022 – Stocks in this week’s article are Daqo New Energy Corp. DQ, TravelCenters of America Inc. TA, Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. CVLG, United Natural Foods, Inc. UNFI and Greif, Inc. GEF.

Pick These 5 Bargain Stocks with Alluring EV-to-EBITDA Ratios

The price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple enjoys wide-scale popularity among investors seeking stocks trading at a bargain. In addition to being a widely used tool for screening stocks, P/E is a popular metric to work out the fair market value of a firm. But even this ubiquitously used valuation multiple has a few downsides.

Although P/E is the most popular valuation metric, a more complicated multiple called EV-to-EBITDA works even better. Often considered a better alternative to P/E, it gives the true picture of a company's valuation and earning potential, and has a more complete approach to valuation. While P/E considers a firm's equity portion, EV-to-EBITDA determines its total value.

Daqo New Energy Corp., TravelCenters of America Inc., Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., United Natural Foods, Inc. and Greif, Inc. are some stocks with attractive EV-to-EBITDA ratios.

Is EV-to-EBITDA a Better Substitute to P/E?

Also referred to as enterprise multiple, EV-to-EBITDA is the enterprise value (EV) of a stock divided by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). EV is the sum of a company's market capitalization, its debt and preferred stock minus cash and cash equivalents. In essence, it is the entire value of a company.

EBITDA, the other constituent of the ratio, gives a clearer picture of a company's profitability as it removes the impact of non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization that dampen net earnings. It is also often used as a proxy for cash flows.

Just like P/E, the lower the EV-to-EBITDA ratio, the more appealing it is. A low EV-to-EBITDA ratio could be a sign that a stock is potentially undervalued.

Unlike the P/E ratio, EV-to-EBITDA takes debt on a company's balance sheet into account. For this reason, it is typically used to value potential acquisition targets. The ratio shows the amount of debt that the acquirer has to bear. Stocks flaunting a low EV-to-EBITDA multiple could be seen as attractive takeover candidates.

Another shortcoming of P/E is that it can't be used to value a loss-making firm. A company's earnings are also subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. On the other hand, EV-to-EBITDA is difficult to manipulate and can also be used to value companies making losses but are EBITDA-positive.

EV-to-EBITDA is also a useful tool in evaluating the value of firms that are highly leveraged and have a high degree of depreciation. Moreover, it can be used to compare companies with different levels of debt.

However, EV-to-EBITDA is not devoid of shortcomings, and it alone can't conclusively determine a stock's inherent potential and future performance. The multiple varies across industries and is usually not appropriate while comparing stocks in different industries, given their diverse capital expenditure requirements.

As such, a strategy solely based on EV-to-EBITDA might not yield the desired results. But you can club it with the other major ratios in your stock-investing toolbox, such as price-to-book (P/B), P/E and price-to-sales (P/S) to screen bargain stocks.

Here are our five picks out of the 20 stocks that passed the screen:

Daqo New Energy is a leading producer of high-purity polysilicon. This Zacks Rank #1 stock has a Value Score of A.

Daqo New Energy has an expected earnings growth rate of 177.5% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DQ's current-year earnings has been revised 6.4% upward over the past 60 days.

TravelCenters of America is the largest publicly traded full-service travel center network in the United States. TA, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1, has a Value Score of A. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

TravelCenters of America has an expected year-over-year earnings growth of 96.6% for the current year. The consensus estimate for TA's current-year earnings has been revised 128.2% upward over the last 60 days.

Covenant Logistics, together with its subsidiaries, offers a portfolio of transportation and logistics services. CVLG, a Zacks Rank #1 stock, has a Value Score of A.

Covenant Logistics has an expected year-over-year earnings growth rate of 50.4% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVLG's current-year earnings has been revised 18.6% upward over the last 60 days.

United Natural Foods is a leading distributor of natural, organic and specialty food and non-food products in the United States and Canada. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has a Value Score of A.

United Natural Foods has an expected year-over-year earnings growth rate of 24% for the current fiscal year. UNFI's earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 29.9%.

Greif is a leading global producer of industrial packaging products and services. This Zacks Rank #2 stock has a Value Score of A.

Greif has an expected year-over-year earnings growth rate of 43% for the current fiscal year. The consensus estimate for GEF's current fiscal-year earnings has been revised 4.6% upward over the past 60 days.

You can get the rest of the stocks on this list by signing up now for your 2-week free trial to the Research Wizard and start using this screen in your own trading. Further, you can also create your own strategies and test them first before taking the investment plunge.

The Research Wizard is a great place to begin. It's easy to use. Everything is in plain language. And it's very intuitive. Start your Research Wizard trial today. And the next time you read an economic report, open up the Research Wizard, plug your finds in, and see what gems come out.

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For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/1984705/pick-these-5-bargain-stocks-with-alluring-ev-to-ebitda-ratios

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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United Natural Foods, Inc. (UNFI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
TravelCenters of America LLC (TA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Greif, Inc. (GEF) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
DAQO New Energy Corp. (DQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. (CVLG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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