Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.
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.
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.
One stock to keep an eye on is Universal Insurance Holdings (UVE). UVE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.17, which compares to its industry's average of 25.62. Over the last 12 months, UVE's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.67 and as low as 6.58, with a median of 8.58.
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. UVE has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.27.
Finally, we should also recognize that UVE has a P/CF ratio of 9.67. 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 11.41. Within the past 12 months, UVE's P/CF has been as high as 10.53 and as low as 5.48, with a median of 8.73.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Universal Insurance Holdings is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, UVE feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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UNIVERSAL INSURANCE HOLDINGS INC (UVE): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).