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Should Value Investors Buy TransAlta (TAC) Stock?

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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, 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.

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.

TransAlta (TAC - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. TAC 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 12.53, which compares to its industry's average of 12.93. TAC's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.65 and as low as 4.46, with a median of 12.62, all within the past year.

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. TAC has a P/S ratio of 0.76. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.73.

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


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