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Zacks.com featured highlights include: MGM, Huntsman, Principal Financial, Unum and Wintrust

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 24, 2018 - Stocks in this week’s article are MGM Growth Properties LLC , Huntsman Corp. (HUN - Free Report) , Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG - Free Report) , Unum Group (UNM - Free Report) and Wintrust Financial Corp. (WTFC - Free Report) .

Pick These 5 Bargain Stocks with Alluring EV/EBITDA Ratios

Value investors are generally fixated on the price-to-earnings (P/E) strategy while seeking stocks that are trading at a bargain. P/E, without a shadow of a doubt, is the most popular multiple used by investors to assess the fair market value of a stock. But even this straightforward, broadly used valuation metric suffers a few downsides.

Why EV/EBITDA is a Better Substitute to P/E?

Although the widespread use of P/E stems from its simplicity, a more-complicated metric called EV/EBITDA is sometimes viewed as a better approach as it offers a clearer picture of a company’s valuation and earnings potential. EV/EBITDA, also referred to as the enterprise multiple, determines the total value of a firm, while P/E just considers its equity portion.

EV/EBITDA is the enterprise value (EV) of a stock divided by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). EV is the sum of a company’s market capitalization, its debt and preferred stock minus cash and cash equivalents. In a nutshell, it is the total value of a company.

EBITDA, the other constituent, gives a clearer picture of a company’s profitability as it removes the impact of non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization that depress net earnings. It is also often used as a proxy for cash flows.

Just like P/E, the lower the EV/EBITDA ratio, the more alluring it is. A low EV/EBITDA ratio could be a sign that a stock is potentially undervalued.

EV/EBITDA takes into account the debt on a company’s balance sheet that P/E ratio does not. Given this reason, EV/EBITDA is generally used to value potential acquisition targets as it shows the amount of debt the acquirer has to assume. Stocks boasting a low EV/EBITDA multiple could be seen as attractive takeover candidates.

Another key drawback of P/E is that it can’t be used to value a loss-making entity. A firm’s earnings are also subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. In contrast, EV/EBITDA is less amenable to manipulation and can also be used to value companies that are making loss but are EBITDA-positive.

EV/EBITDA is also a useful yardstick in measuring the value of firms that are highly leveraged and have a high degree of depreciation. Moreover, it can be used to compare companies with different levels of debt.

However, EV/EBITDA is also not without its downsides and alone cannot conclusively determine a stock’s inherent potential and future performance. The ratio varies across industries and is generally not appropriate while comparing stocks in different industries given their diverse capital spending requirements.

Hence, a strategy entirely based on EV/EBITDA might not fetch the desired results. But you can combine it with other major ratios such as price-to-book (P/B), P/E and price-to-sales (P/S) to screen bargain stocks.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/330027/pick-these-5-bargain-stocks-with-alluring-evebitda-ratios

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

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