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.
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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
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.
Intercorp Financial Services (IFS) is a stock many investors are watching right now. IFS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.68 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.33. Over the past 52 weeks, IFS's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.57 and as low as 6.00, with a median of 7.42.
Investors should also note that IFS holds a PEG ratio of 0.32. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. IFS's industry has an average PEG of 0.55 right now. Over the last 12 months, IFS's PEG has been as high as 0.41 and as low as 0.23, with a median of 0.31.
Investors should also recognize that IFS has a P/B ratio of 1.46. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 2.76. Over the past year, IFS's P/B has been as high as 1.53 and as low as 1.04, with a median of 1.26.
Finally, investors should note that IFS has a P/CF ratio of 7.19. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. IFS's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.10. Within the past 12 months, IFS's P/CF has been as high as 8.71 and as low as 6.22, with a median of 7.53.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Intercorp Financial Services is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, IFS sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).