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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
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 stock to keep an eye on is Atlanticus (ATLC). ATLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.89 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.97. Over the past 52 weeks, ATLC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.46 and as low as 6.34, with a median of 8.26.
Another notable valuation metric for ATLC is its P/B ratio of 1.9. 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 3.17. Over the past 12 months, ATLC's P/B has been as high as 2.08 and as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.54.
Finally, investors should note that ATLC has a P/CF ratio of 9.19. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.70. Within the past 12 months, ATLC's P/CF has been as high as 9.96 and as low as 4.95, with a median of 6.94.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Atlanticus is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ATLC feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Atlanticus Holdings Corporation (ATLC): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).