Should Value Investors Buy Horace Mann Educators (HMN) Stock?

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 Horace Mann Educators (HMN). HMN is currently holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Another notable valuation metric for HMN is its P/B ratio of 1.37. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 2.67. Over the past 12 months, HMN's P/B has been as high as 1.43 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.28.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. HMN has a P/S ratio of 1.03. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.04.

Another great Insurance - Multi line stock you could consider is Scor (SCRYY), which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Additionally, Scor has a P/B ratio of 1.25 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.67. For SCRYY, this valuation metric has been as high as 1.32, as low as 0.76, with a median of 1.01 over the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Horace Mann Educators and Scor are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, HMN and SCRYY sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"

Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.

Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners, but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like D-Wave Quantum, which shot up +680.1%.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research