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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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.
One company to watch right now is Dentsply Sirona (XRAY). XRAY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.94. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 16.43. Over the last 12 months, XRAY's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.23 and as low as 6.77, with a median of 10.33.
Investors will also notice that XRAY has a PEG ratio of 1.21. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. XRAY's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.76. Over the last 12 months, XRAY's PEG has been as high as 1.91 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.11.
Investors should also recognize that XRAY has a P/B ratio of 1.66. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 4.42. XRAY's P/B has been as high as 2.16 and as low as 1.24, with a median of 1.68, over the past year.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. XRAY has a P/S ratio of 0.89. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.5.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that XRAY has a P/CF ratio of 16.17. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 17.28. Over the past 52 weeks, XRAY's P/CF has been as high as 19.05 and as low as 7.83, with a median of 11.57.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Dentsply Sirona is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, XRAY feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (XRAY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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