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.
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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
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.
Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.
We should also highlight that MFC has a P/B ratio of 1.67. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.98. Within the past 52 weeks, MFC's P/B has been as high as 1.75 and as low as 1.43, with a median of 1.62.
Finally, investors should note that MFC has a P/CF ratio of 12.65. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. MFC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 18.27. Over the past year, MFC's P/CF has been as high as 16.32 and as low as 11.85, with a median of 12.92.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Manulife Financial Corp is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MFC sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Manulife Financial Corp (MFC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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