5 Top-Rated Value Stocks

Are you familiar with the dynamic duo of Fama and French? No, they didn't star in Tommy Boy -- that was Farley and Spade. And they didn't perform the "Time Machine" skit -- that was Slovin and Allen.

While the names Eugene Fama and Kenneth French may not come up in most dinner conversations, the two have done some very interesting academic research on stocks. In short, they've proposed that there's more to stock returns than volatility -- which was most academics' previous consensus. In research they conducted over various periods and across multiple geographic locations, Fama and French determined that stocks characterized as "value stocks" have consistently outperformed nonvalue stocks.

Today, I've rounded up five value stocks that are all trading at two times or less their book value. (You can run the same screen on the CAPS screener). To focus on high-quality stocks, I've cross-referenced these against ratings in our CAPS community of more than 140,000 investors.

Data from CAPS, Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's), and Yahoo! Finance as of Oct. 2.

While these aren't formal recommendations, the CAPS community thinks that these are good choices when it comes to value stocks. With that I mind, I thought I'd dig in a little further on Weatherford International.

Where is the value?
Finding oil and gas deposits is only worthwhile if you're able to get underground and get them. Weatherford makes this happen for its customers by offering services for nearly every stage of drilling and well construction. The company also offers a variety of products and services for evaluating wells and optimizing well production.

The oil boom that we saw just over a year ago was fantastic for oilfield services companies like Weatherford, but the bust that followed has taken business drastically in the other direction. The steady upward creep of oil from its lows has provided some breathing room, but what's $70 oil when you've seen $140?

Oil price fluctuations aside, Weatherford has proven itself a formidable competitor when stacked up against the likes of Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), Baker Hughes (NYSE:BHI), and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL). Between 2003 and 2009, Weatherford's 22% revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) outpaced that entire group. And though the company does carry a considerable amount of debt on its balance sheet, it has its interest payments comfortably covered.

If there's a hitch in the company's step, it's the fact that a third of its revenue comes from the North American market, which has been, and is expected to continue to be, highly volatile. But as my fellow Fool David Lee Smith pointed out recently, the company is dedicated to increasing its international exposure.

But will it beat the market?
Weatherford has been a favorite of the CAPS community for some time. The stock has been rated nearly 800 times on CAPS and has been called an outperformer 777 times.

What do these Weatherford fans see in the company's stock? While there are a variety of viewpoints, the stock's current valuation, the potential for oil to continue to climb, and the company's high-quality operations have been recurring themes.

So what do you think? Are the stocks in this group values, or value traps? Log onto CAPS and let the rest of the 140,000-member community know what you think.

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