While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.
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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
One company to watch right now is Mercury General (MCY). MCY is currently holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.
Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MCY has a P/S ratio of 0.69. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.28.
Finally, our model also underscores that MCY has a P/CF ratio of 8.56. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. MCY's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 10.32. MCY's P/CF has been as high as 10.18 and as low as 4.83, with a median of 7.64, all within the past year.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Mercury General's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that MCY is an impressive value stock right now.
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Mercury General Corporation (MCY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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