The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.
Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the “Value” category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, “A” grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One company value investors might notice is Credit Agricole (CRARY). CRARY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.09 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.71. Over the last 12 months, CRARY’s Forward P/E has been as high as 9.97 and as low as 6.67, with a median of 8.09.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock’s price with the company’s 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. CRARY has a P/S ratio of 1.45. This compares to its industry’s average P/S of 1.81.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Credit Agricole is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, CRARY feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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