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.
Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
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.
One stock to keep an eye on is Perrigo (PRGO). PRGO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.44, which compares to its industry's average of 21.72. Over the last 12 months, PRGO's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.15 and as low as 7.66, with a median of 8.85.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is 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. PRGO has a P/S ratio of 0.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.32.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Perrigo is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, PRGO feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Perrigo Company plc (PRGO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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