While growth is certainly a component of value, smart investors know that heed must be taken to the price paid for any stock. A business may thrive, but if the price one pays for that business is too high, it won't matter one bit. And while we're nearly eight years into a secular bull market, there is still value to be had for Foolish investors willing to do some digging. Below are the key details on Crescent Point Energy (COHR), Oceaneering (OII 1.53%), and Coherent (CPG 2.67%), three value stocks worth diving headfirst into.
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Deep value with a record of growth
Sean O'Reilly (Crescent Point Energy): Value stocks are hard to come by these days. Fortunately, almost a decade into a secular bull market, there is at least one sector that has been left out in the cold: energy. Since 2014, the world has had more crude oil than necessary, which has had a predictable effect on oil prices. That dynamic appears to be changing. This potential shift, coupled with rock-bottom valuations, is why I believe the oil sector is the place to be for value investors.
One company, in particular, seems to offer the right mix of growth and value for Foolish investors: Crescent Point Energy. Founded in 2001, Crescent Point is an exploration-and-production player based in Calgary, Alberta, with satellite operations in Denver, Colorado. The company focuses on light-oil production in southern Saskatchewan and the Uinta Basin in Utah.
Over the last three years, Crescent Point has proven itself to be a world-class operator. Last year, it grew its drilling inventory by approximately 1,000 net locations, and this success has continued into fiscal year 2017: It exceeded its production targets by over 8000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (5% above its initial goal of 160,000 BOE/D) in the second quarter. The company has also managed to operate in the black despite lackluster energy prices. Net income for the quarter amounted to 83.6 million Canadian dollars (CA$0.15 per share).
All this success makes one wonder why Crescent Point stock trades at just 0.55 times tangible book value -- far below the 1 times price-to-tangible book value ratio assigned to its shares as recently as Q1 2017. As icing on the cake, Crescent sports a 3.8% dividend yield, supported by free cash flow that amounted to over CA$128 million last year. For Foolish investors in search of value, Crescent Point energy is a great place to start.
Deepwater drilling has been slow to recover
Matt Frankel (Oceaneering): Oceaneering is one of the leading providers of oilfield engineering services, producing such deepwater-focused products as remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and providing engineering and project-management services.
While there is still significant pressure on the offshore drilling industry, Oceaneering's recent results have been quite promising. Revenue is up 15% year over year, and the company reported a profit for the first time in a while. Plus, the company won some long-term contracts that should help fuel revenue.
Since the oil downturn began in 2014, Oceaneering's stock price is down more than 60%. And even though oil prices have recovered a bit, the deepwater drilling industry is just starting to get some traction, which has prevented the company from gaining pricing power on its ROVs.
The company has stated that it still expects to be only "marginally profitable" for 2017, but Oceaneering has a strong balance sheet that should allow it to survive just fine, even if the oil recovery takes longer than expected. It may take some time, but as the oil market continues to improve, there could be lots of potential upside for shareholders willing to invest while the company is barely making a profit.
A laser maker that's built for growth
Brian Feroldi (Coherent): Consumer demand for electronic devices seems insatiable. What's more, with the internet of things trend still in its infancy, overall demand looks poised for even more rapid growth for years to come.
Meeting that demand is going to be a tall task for manufacturers, especially with trends pushing products to become smaller and more powerful. As a result, manufacturers are increasing their use of laser systems to help in production. That fact has caused business to boom for Coherent.
Coherent is a leading provider of laser systems and accessories, which have broad applications for all kinds of manufacturers. Tasks like cutting, welding, brazing, and even quality-control inspections can be performed by Coherent's systems on a miniaturized scale. That fact has caused manufacturers of microelectronic equipment like OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screens, semiconductors, and circuit boards to flock to Coherent's solutions.
Another factor driving Coherent's growth is last year's acquisition of Rofin-Sinar, one of its former rivals. While the company is still digesting the acquisition, bringing these two businesses together under one roof helps to broaden its product portfolio. It also provides the company with margin-improvement opportunities, thanks to increased scale and cost synergies.
With business booming and margin enhancements on the way, Wall Street projects that Coherent's profits will grow in excess of 50% annually over the next five years. With shares currently trading around 17 times next year's earnings estimates, I think that Coherent is a high-growth stock that is trading for a value price.
