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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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
One stock to keep an eye on is Ericsson (ERIC). ERIC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 15.87, which compares to its industry's average of 22.22. Over the last 12 months, ERIC's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.67 and as low as 10.39, with a median of 13.52.
Investors should also recognize that ERIC has a P/B ratio of 3.32. 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 7.60. Over the past year, ERIC's P/B has been as high as 3.49 and as low as 1.54, with a median of 2.05.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. ERIC has a P/S ratio of 1.15. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.94.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Ericsson'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, ERIC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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Ericsson (ERIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report