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Are Investors Undervaluing Humana (HUM) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Humana (HUM - Free Report) . HUM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 17.28 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.31. Over the past year, HUM's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.59 and as low as 17.28, with a median of 19.78.

Investors should also note that HUM holds a PEG ratio of 1.18. 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. HUM's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.27. HUM's PEG has been as high as 1.81 and as low as 1.18, with a median of 1.43, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Humana's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that HUM is an impressive value stock right now.


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