After reading Kevin Kelly's stock pick for a volatile market -- Steve Madden (NASDAQ: SHOO) -- I started thinking about all the shoe stocks that have been popping up on my deep value radar of late. A handful of shoe manufacturers and retailers have piqued my interest with low price/book ratios or low price/earnings ratios. Here they are:

Rocky Brands (NASDAQ: RCKY): Rocky owns the ROCKY(R) brand, along with GEORGIA BOOT(R), LEHIGH(R), DURANGO, MICHELIN FOOTWEAR and ZUMFOOT and manufactures DICKIES(R) boots under a licensing deal.

The company disappointed the Street -- actually enraged it -- with its second-quarter results. But the stock trades at a modest price/earnings ratio, and reaffirmed its guidance when it reported the bad quarter. At 0.23 times sales and .60 times book value, this one may be worth scooping out of the bargain bin.

Finish Line (NASDAQ: FINL): Shares of Finish Line, an operator of mall-based footwear stores, have been getting hammered since the company agreed to acquire its much larger competitor Genesco (NYSE: GCO) for $1.5 billion in cash. Following the deal, the combined entity's balance sheet is going to look like something out of those 1950's horror movies you can get on DVD for a buck at Wal-Mart.

Phoenix Footwear Group (AMEX: PXG): These guys make shoes and work boots under labels including Royal Robbins apparel, the Tommy Bahama, Trotters, SoftWalk, H.S. Trask footwear, Altama boots and Chambers Belt. The stock popped a few weeks ago when the company received a nice Defense Department contract, but has since retreated.

Shoe Pavilion (NASADQ: SHOE): So far, this is one of those turnarounds that, like most turnarounds, isn't really turning around. The company operates discount shoe stores and isn't making any money.

Judging from their stock prices, life has been tough for the second-tier shoe companies -- Perhaps competition and pricing pressure from mass merchandisers is hurting sales and margins. But these stocks look, at least superficially, to be cheap, and may be good contrarian bets.

Why are there so many cheap shoe stocks out there? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 12 Aug 2007 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.