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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.
Central Garden & Pet (CENTA) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CENTA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.58, while its industry has an average P/E of 13.87. Over the past year, CENTA's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.39 and as low as 11.42, with a median of 13.11.
Another notable valuation metric for CENTA is its P/B ratio of 1.24. 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. CENTA's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.54. Over the past year, CENTA's P/B has been as high as 1.58 and as low as 1.20, with a median of 1.35.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Central Garden & Pet's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, CENTA looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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Central Garden & Pet Company (CENTA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).