Are Investors Undervaluing J. Sainsbury (JSAIY) Right Now?

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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is J. Sainsbury (JSAIY). JSAIY is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.18 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 33.33. Over the past 52 weeks, JSAIY's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.87 and as low as 9.07, with a median of 11.27.

Investors should also note that JSAIY holds a PEG ratio of 3.41. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. JSAIY's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 4.22. Over the last 12 months, JSAIY's PEG has been as high as 4.70 and as low as 1.92, with a median of 2.63.

Another great Retail - Supermarkets stock you could consider is The Kroger Co. (KR), which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

The Kroger Co. is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 13.92 while its PEG ratio sits at 2.11. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 33.33 and average PEG ratio of 4.22.

Over the last 12 months, KR's P/E has been as high as 15.11, as low as 11.29, with a median of 13.41, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 3.07, as low as 0.78, with a median of 1.98.

Additionally, The Kroger Co. has a P/B ratio of 5.17 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 8.67. For KR, this valuation metric has been as high as 5.82, as low as 2.97, with a median of 4.91 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in J. Sainsbury and The Kroger Co.'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 JSAIY and KR is an impressive value stock right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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