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Are Investors Undervaluing Ageas (AGESY) Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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 use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Ageas (AGESY - Free Report) . AGESY is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.19. Over the past year, AGESY's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.05 and as low as 6.41, with a median of 8.38.

We also note that AGESY holds a PEG ratio of 0.73. 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. AGESY's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.01. Over the last 12 months, AGESY's PEG has been as high as 1.36 and as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.83.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. AGESY has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.91.

Investors could also keep in mind CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) , an Insurance - Multi line stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Additionally, CNO Financial Group has a P/B ratio of 2.08 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 3.08. For CNO, this valuation metric has been as high as 2.13, as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.96 over the past year.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Ageas and CNO Financial Group are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, AGESY and CNO feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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