Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
Intercorp Financial Services (IFS) is a stock many investors are watching right now. IFS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.49 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 18.26. Over the last 12 months, IFS's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.57 and as low as 5.61, with a median of 6.90.
Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.35. 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 3.36. Within the past 52 weeks, IFS's P/B has been as high as 1.42 and as low as 0.93, with a median of 1.14.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that IFS has a P/CF ratio of 7.34. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 20.05. Over the past 52 weeks, IFS's P/CF has been as high as 8.71 and as low as 6.22, with a median of 7.69.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Intercorp Financial Services is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, IFS feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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