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.
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 value investors might notice is Escalade (ESCA). ESCA is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.29. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.24. ESCA's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.39 and as low as 12.51, with a median of 14.43, all within the past year.
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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. ESCA has a P/S ratio of 0.72. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.99.
Finally, we should also recognize that ESCA has a P/CF ratio of 9.46. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. ESCA's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 27.79. ESCA's P/CF has been as high as 11.84 and as low as 8.89, with a median of 10.47, all within the past year.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Escalade is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, ESCA sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Escalade, Incorporated (ESCA): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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