While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.
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.
In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.
One company value investors might notice is H. B. Fuller (FUL). FUL 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 12.94 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 21.20. Over the last 12 months, FUL's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.44 and as low as 11.31, with a median of 13.44.
Investors should also note that FUL holds a PEG ratio of 0.89. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. FUL's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.34. FUL's PEG has been as high as 1.54 and as low as 0.71, with a median of 1.01, all within the past year.
Another notable valuation metric for FUL is its P/B ratio of 1.75. 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 3.78. Over the past 12 months, FUL's P/B has been as high as 2.49 and as low as 1.48, with a median of 1.77.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio 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. FUL has a P/S ratio of 1.01. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.83.
Finally, we should also recognize that FUL has a P/CF ratio of 11.92. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 14.61. Over the past year, FUL's P/CF has been as high as 14.30 and as low as 9.48, with a median of 11.67.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that H. B. Fuller is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, FUL feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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H. B. Fuller Company (FUL): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).