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.
Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
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 Atlanticus (ATLC). ATLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A 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 15.40. Over the last 12 months, 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 valuation metric that we should highlight is ATLC's P/B ratio of 1.9. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 3.08. Over the past year, ATLC's P/B has been as high as 2.08 and as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.54.
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).