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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
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 Horace Mann Educators (HMN). HMN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.
We should also highlight that HMN has a P/B ratio of 1.30. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 2.30. Over the past 12 months, HMN's P/B has been as high as 1.37 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.20.
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. HMN has a P/S ratio of 1.09. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.1.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Horace Mann Educators'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 HMN is an impressive value stock right now.
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Horace Mann Educators Corporation (HMN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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