Should Value Investors Buy NCI Building Systems (NCS) Stock?

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, 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.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company value investors might notice is NCI Building Systems (NCS). NCS is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.77. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.65. Over the past year, NCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.71 and as low as 8.23, with a median of 13.50.

Investors should also note that NCS holds a PEG ratio of 0.88. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. NCS's industry has an average PEG of 0.94 right now. Over the last 12 months, NCS's PEG has been as high as 1.97 and as low as 0.82, with a median of 1.35.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that NCS has a P/CF ratio of 11.85. 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. NCS's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.07. Over the past 52 weeks, NCS's P/CF has been as high as 17.99 and as low as 9.57, with a median of 11.48.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that NCI Building Systems is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, NCS feels like a great value stock at the moment.

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