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.
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 Commercial Metals (CMC). CMC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.16 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 12.50. Over the past 52 weeks, CMC's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.74 and as low as 9.50, with a median of 11.89.
Another notable valuation metric for CMC is its P/B ratio of 1.59. 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 2.07. CMC's P/B has been as high as 1.80 and as low as 1.10, with a median of 1.42, over the past year.
Finally, our model also underscores that CMC has a P/CF ratio of 20.49. 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. CMC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 21.47. Over the past year, CMC's P/CF has been as high as 21.06 and as low as 7.76, with a median of 14.56.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Commercial Metals is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CMC sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Commercial Metals Company (CMC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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