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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
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 company value investors might notice is Molina Healthcare (MOH). MOH 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 9.08 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.61. Over the last 12 months, MOH's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.98 and as low as 6.48, with a median of 11.46.
Another notable valuation metric for MOH is its P/B ratio of 2.06. 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 2.45. MOH's P/B has been as high as 4.44 and as low as 1.79, with a median of 3.71, over the past year.
Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MOH has a P/S ratio of 0.21. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.27.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that MOH has a P/CF ratio of 7.07. 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. MOH's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 19.51. Within the past 12 months, MOH's P/CF has been as high as 16.68 and as low as 6.15, with a median of 12.60.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Molina Healthcare is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MOH sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).