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.
Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
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.
Greif (GEF) is a stock many investors are watching right now. GEF is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 13.24, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.22. GEF's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.00 and as low as 11.05, with a median of 13.22, all within the past year.
GEF is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.10. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. GEF's industry has an average PEG of 1.75 right now. Within the past year, GEF's PEG has been as high as 1.66 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.07.
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. GEF has a P/S ratio of 0.58. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.01.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Greif is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, GEF sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Greif, Inc. (GEF): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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