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.
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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One company value investors might notice is J.Jill (JILL). JILL is currently holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 6.26, while its industry has an average P/E of 18.45. JILL's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.92 and as low as 4.10, with a median of 5.90, 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. JILL has a P/S ratio of 0.43. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.54.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that J.Jill is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, JILL sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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J.Jill, Inc. (JILL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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