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 Barclays (BCS). BCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 6.58. This compares to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 9.46. Over the last 12 months, BCS’s Forward P/E has been as high as 13.43 and as low as 5.78, with a median of 8.25.
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. BCS has a P/S ratio of 1.14. This compares to its industry’s average P/S of 1.57.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Barclays is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, BCS feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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