Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
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 Intercorp Financial Services (IFS). IFS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.76 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 13.96. Over the past 52 weeks, IFS's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.57 and as low as 5.61, with a median of 6.47.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is IFS's P/B ratio of 1.17. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.87. Over the past 12 months, IFS's P/B has been as high as 1.34 and as low as 0.89, with a median of 1.12.
Finally, our model also underscores that IFS has a P/CF ratio of 7.53. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 13.40. IFS's P/CF has been as high as 8.71 and as low as 6.73, with a median of 7.74, all within the past year.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Intercorp Financial Services'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 IFS is an impressive value stock right now.
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Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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