5 Value Stocks to Own as War Tensions Ease and Oil Pulls Back

All major U.S. indices moved higher yesterday, gaining more than 1%. The uptick came after Donald Trump signaled progress in talks between the United States and Iran, pausing plans to strike Iran's power plants for five days. This raised hopes that tensions in the Middle East could ease. That optimism also pushed oil prices lower, with West Texas Intermediate futures pulling back and giving equities an added lift as investors dialed down fears of a prolonged conflict.

Even with recent uncertainty, the broader backdrop remains supportive. The U.S. economy is holding up well, inflation is gradually cooling (though still above target), and there’s a growing expectation of rate cuts over the next year. On top of that, corporate earnings remain strong, with double-digit growth projected in the coming quarters, alongside improving productivity and the ongoing AI-driven momentum.

Once geopolitical worries fade and the focus shifts back to fundamentals, stock selection becomes key again. In this setup, value investing looks particularly appealing—offering investors a chance to pick up solid businesses at attractive prices before the market fully catches on.

Adecoagro S.A. AGRO, Cable One CABO, Dana Incorporated DAN, Centerra Gold CGAU and National Energy Services Reunited Corp. NESR are a few solid high-value picks with high earnings yields.

Using Earnings Yield Metric

One simple tool value investors use is earnings yield. It shows how much profit a company makes for each dollar of its stock price. Earnings yield, expressed as a percentage, is calculated as (Annual Earnings per Share/Market Price) x 100. It is the reverse of the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. A high earnings yield may mean the stock is undervalued. A low yield could mean the stock is too expensive.

Investors can also use earnings yield to compare stocks with bond returns like the 10-year Treasury yield. If the stock market's earnings yield is higher than the bond yield, stocks might be more attractive. With regard to this, earnings yield can be more illuminating than the traditional P/E ratio as it facilitates the comparison of stocks with fixed-income securities.

The Winning Strategy

We have set an Earnings Yield greater than 10% as our primary screening criterion but it alone cannot be used for picking stocks that have the potential to generate solid returns. So, we have added the following parameters to the screen:

Estimated EPS growth for the next 12 months greater than or equal to the S&P 500: This metric compares the 12-month forward EPS estimate with the 12-month actual EPS.

Average Daily Volume (20 Day) greater than or equal to 100,000: High trading volume implies that a stock has adequate liquidity.

Current Price greater than or equal to $5.

Buy-Rated Stocks: Stocks with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy) have been known to outperform peers in any type of market environment. You can see .

Our Picks

Here we have highlighted five of the 44 stocks that qualified the screening:

Adecoagro is an agricultural company engaged in farming crops and other agricultural products, cattle and dairy operations, sugar, ethanol and energy production and land transformation. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AGRO’s 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 872%. EPS estimates for the current year have moved up by 18 cents over the past seven days. Adecoagro currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of A.

Cable One is a leading U.S. broadband communications provider, serving more than 1.1 million residential and business customers across 24 states, primarily under its Sparklight brand. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CABO’s 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 161%. EPS estimates for the current year have moved up by $4.45 over the past 30 days. Cable One currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of A.

Dana is a leading supplier of power-conveyance and energy-management technologies for the global automotive and commercial-vehicle markets. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DAN’s 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 1,358%. EPS estimates for the current year have moved up by 49 cents over the past 30 days. Dana currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of A.

Centerra is a mid-tier gold and copper producer operating in North America and Türkiye. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CGAU’s 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 56%. EPS estimates for the current year have moved up by 11 cents over the past 30 days. Centerra currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of A.

National Energy delivers comprehensive oilfield, drilling and production solutions in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NESR’s 2026 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 94%. EPS estimates for 2026 have moved up by 9 cents over the past 60 days. National Energy currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 and has a Value Score of A.

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Dana Incorporated (DAN): Free Stock Analysis Report

Adecoagro S.A. (AGRO): Free Stock Analysis Report

Cable One, Inc. (CABO): Free Stock Analysis Report

National Energy Services Reunited (NESR): Free Stock Analysis Report

Centerra Gold Inc. (CGAU): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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