Validea is an intriguing newsletter that selects stocks based on the strategies of the market's most legendary investors. Here, editor John Reese takes a look at Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO).

"This mall-based clothing retailer targets youngsters age 14 to age 17 through more than 900 stores in 49 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

"The company has developed a new retail store concept called P.S. from Aeropostale, which will offer casual clothing and accessories focusing on elementary school children between the ages of seven and 12.

In his Validea newsletter and his just published book Guru Strategies, stock advisor John Reese assesses companies based on the investment strategies of "legendary investors" such as Ben Graham and Warren Buffett.

Recently, the advisor has highlighted two retailers that pass his guru screens: Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL) and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers (NASDAQ: JOSB). Here's his contrarian look at the two out-of-favor firms.

"You might never have heard Gildan Activewear, a Montreal-based clothing manufacturer, but you may well have worn its products. Gildan sells T-shirts, sport shirts and fleece to wholesale distributors as 'blanks' -- that is, without logos or decorating. Screen printers then decorate the items with various designs and logos.

In his Validea newsletter, John Reese selects stocks using the investment strategies of the market's leading gurus, such as Benjamin Graham, John Neff, Warren Buffett, David Dreman, and Peter Lynch.

The advisor, and author of the just-published The Guru Investor, recently ran a screen based on the investment strategy of Kenneth Fisher to find his latest buy recommendation -- Kennametal (NYSE: KMT).

Reese explains, "For decades, the price-to-earnings ratio has been the most widely used valuation measure for stock investors, and a key tool in the arsenals of many of the gurus I follow. ut in 1984, Kenneth Fisher sent a shockwave through the P/E-conscious investment world.

Validea selects its recommended stocks based on the criteria of various legendary stock gurus. For one of its latest ideas -- BP (NYSE: BP) -- editor John Reese explains, "The stock gets approval from three of my strategies, earning high marks from the models that I base on the writings of Peter Lynch, James O'Shaughnessy, and Kenneth Fisher."

The advisor suggests, "BP is a London-based worldwide energy company. Among BP's activities are oil and natural gas exploration and production, and the refining, transportation, and selling or trading of crude oil and other petroleum products.

"The oil giant -- with customers in more than 100 countries across six continents -- also has branches dedicated to alternative fuels such as wind, solar, and hydrogen power.

"Because of the firm's 31.77% growth rate (based on the average of the three-, four-, and five-year EPS figures), my Lynch-based model considers BP a fast-grower. To identify growth stocks that are still selling at a good price, Lynch uses the P/E/Growth ratio, which divides a company's price-to-earnings ratio by its historic growth rate.

"P/E/G ratios lower than 1.0 are acceptable according to this model, with those under 0.5 the best case. With a P/E ratio of 10.17 and that 31.77 percent growth rate, BP boasts an excellent 0.32 P/E/G, which falls into that best case category.