The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.
Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
One company value investors might notice is Maximus (MMS). MMS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.26 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 14.72. Over the past year, MMS's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.98 and as low as 10.83, with a median of 14.54.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. MMS has a P/S ratio of 0.72. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.79.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Maximus's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, MMS looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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Maximus, Inc. (MMS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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