Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.
Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.
One company value investors might notice is Tenet Healthcare (THC). THC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.69 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.93. THC's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.48 and as low as 10.82, with a median of 14.87, all within the past year.
THC is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.84. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. THC's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1. THC's PEG has been as high as 3.73 and as low as 0.55, with a median of 0.82, all within the past year.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. THC has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.77.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that THC has a P/CF ratio of 3.25. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. THC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 6.15. Within the past 12 months, THC's P/CF has been as high as 7.24 and as low as 2.61, with a median of 3.75.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Tenet Healthcare is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, THC sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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