The Meaning Behind Value Stocks

A value stock is traditionally defined in terms of how investors in the marketplace are valuing that company's future growth prospects. Low P/E multiples are good base indicators that the company is undervalued and can most likely be labelled as a value stock.

Benzinga Insights has compiled a list of value stocks in the energy sector that may be worth watching:

Shell has reported Q1 earnings per share at $2.4, which has increased by 44.58% compared to Q4, which was 1.66. YPF's earnings per share for Q1 sits at $0.64, whereas in Q4, they were at 1.0. Its most recent dividend yield is at 1.0%, which has increased by 0.47% from 0.53% in the previous quarter.

Laredo Petroleum has reported Q1 earnings per share at $5.17, which has increased by 52.51% compared to Q4, which was 3.39. Callon Petroleum has reported Q1 earnings per share at $3.43, which has increased by 28.95% compared to Q4, which was 2.66. PetroChina Co saw an increase in earnings per share from 1.41 in Q4 to $3.31 now. Most recently, the company reported a dividend yield of 5.31%, which has decreased by 3.43% from last quarter's yield of 8.74%.

The Significance: A value stock may need some time to rebound from its undervalued position. The risk of investing in a value stock is that this emergence may never materialize.