The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
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.
Cousins Properties (CUZ) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CUZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.06, while its industry has an average P/E of 16.24. Over the past 52 weeks, CUZ's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.85 and as low as 8.96, with a median of 10.63.
Investors should also recognize that CUZ has a P/B ratio of 1.01. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.90. Over the past 12 months, CUZ's P/B has been as high as 1.09 and as low as 0.87, with a median of 1.02.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CUZ has a P/S ratio of 3.68. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.72.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that CUZ has a P/CF ratio of 10.80. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. CUZ's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 16.13. Within the past 12 months, CUZ's P/CF has been as high as 12.02 and as low as 9.67, with a median of 11.18.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Cousins Properties'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 CUZ is an impressive value stock right now.
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Cousins Properties Incorporated (CUZ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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