Top 5 All-Around-Value Stocks for March 31

Each business day, TheStreet.com Ratings TheStreet.com Ratings compiles a list of the top five stocks in one of five categories -- fast-growth, all-around value, large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap -- based on data from the close of the previous trading session. Today, all-around-value stocks are in the spotlight.

These are stocks of companies that meet a number of criteria, including annual revenue of more than $500 million, lower-than-average valuations such as a price-to-sales ratio of less than 2, and leverage that is less than 49% of total capital.

In addition, they must rank near the top of all stocks rated by our proprietary quantitative model, which looks at more than 60 factors. The stocks must also be followed by at least one financial analyst who posts estimates on the Institutional Brokers' Estimate System. They are ordered by their potential to appreciate.

Note that no provision is made for off-balance-sheet assets such as unrealized appreciation/depreciation of investments, market value of real estate or contingent liabilities that might affect book value. This could be material for some companies with large, underfunded pension plans.

Silgan Holdings(SLGN) manufactures metal and plastic consumer goods packaging products, including metal food containers, vacuum closures for food and beverage products, and high density polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate containers for the personal care market. Our buy rating for this stock has been in place since May 2004. The rating is based on such strengths as the company's growth, efficiency, and total return.

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, Silgan reported slight revenue growth of 8.4% year over year. This growth appears to have helped boost earnings per share, which improved 23.1% when compared to the same quarter a year ago, continuing a trend of positive EPS growth. We feel that this trend should continue. Net income also increased in the fourth quarter, rising 22.3% from $19.9 million to $24.4 million. A slight increase in return on equity can be seen as a modest strength for the organization, and the stock's price has risen over the past year, reflecting earnings growth and other positive factors.