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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.
One company value investors might notice is Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN). CCRN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.
We should also highlight that CCRN has a P/B ratio of 1.25. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.89. Within the past 52 weeks, CCRN's P/B has been as high as 1.43 and as low as 0.76, with a median of 1.17.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. CCRN has a P/S ratio of 0.39. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.4.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Cross Country Healthcare is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, CCRN feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.