Yahoo Finance Are Investors Undervaluing AZZ (AZZ) Right Now?
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.
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 company value investors might notice is AZZ (AZZ). AZZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 14.91, while its industry has an average P/E of 24.99. Over the past year, AZZ's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.72 and as low as 10.40, with a median of 13.30.
AZZ is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.06. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. AZZ's industry has an average PEG of 2.11 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, AZZ's PEG has been as high as 1.27 and as low as 0.89, with a median of 1.10.
We should also highlight that AZZ has a P/B ratio of 3.30. 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 4.10. Over the past 12 months, AZZ's P/B has been as high as 3.56 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.53.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. AZZ has a P/S ratio of 1.52. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.72.
Finally, our model also underscores that AZZ has a P/CF ratio of 10.20. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. AZZ's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 12.06. Within the past 12 months, AZZ's P/CF has been as high as 34.30 and as low as 8.14, with a median of 10.46.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that AZZ is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, AZZ feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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AZZ Inc. (AZZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
