Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.
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 use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
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 company to watch right now is Zions Bancorporation (ZION). ZION is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.14. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.67. Over the past year, ZION's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.64 and as low as 8.72, with a median of 9.97.
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. ZION has a P/S ratio of 1.72. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.31.
Finally, our model also underscores that ZION has a P/CF ratio of 9.32. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11.76. Over the past 52 weeks, ZION's P/CF has been as high as 11.06 and as low as 6.86, with a median of 8.58.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Zions Bancorporation is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ZION feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Zions Bancorporation, N.A. (ZION) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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