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 to watch right now is Horace Mann Educators (HMN). HMN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is HMN's P/B ratio of 1.37. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.52. Over the past 12 months, HMN's P/B has been as high as 1.43 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.28.
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 preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. HMN has a P/S ratio of 1.1. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.11.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Horace Mann Educators is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, HMN sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Horace Mann Educators Corporation (HMN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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