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Are Investors Undervaluing Core-Mark (CORE) Right Now?

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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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. 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 to watch right now is Core-Mark . CORE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 15.35, which compares to its industry's average of 19.69. Over the past 52 weeks, CORE's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.96 and as low as 12.35, with a median of 15.28.

Investors will also notice that CORE has a PEG ratio of 1.55. 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. CORE's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.71. Over the past 52 weeks, CORE's PEG has been as high as 2.87 and as low as 1.55, with a median of 1.93.

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

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