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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.
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.
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.
One company value investors might notice is Laureate Education (LAUR). LAUR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.78 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.76. Over the past 52 weeks, LAUR's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.71 and as low as 9.26, with a median of 10.69.
We should also highlight that LAUR has a P/B ratio of 3.10. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.46. Over the past year, LAUR's P/B has been as high as 3.32 and as low as 2.08, with a median of 2.47.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. LAUR has a P/S ratio of 1.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.93.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Laureate Education'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, LAUR looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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Laureate Education (LAUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report