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.
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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
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.
Ryder System (R) is a stock many investors are watching right now. R is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.74. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.88. Over the past 52 weeks, R's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.18 and as low as 9.22, with a median of 11.32.
Investors should also recognize that R has a P/B ratio of 2.44. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.65. Over the past 12 months, R's P/B has been as high as 2.52 and as low as 1.79, with a median of 2.16.
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. R has a P/S ratio of 0.8. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.44.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Ryder System's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that R is an impressive value stock right now.
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Ryder System, Inc. (R): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).