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Are Investors Undervaluing Tech Data (TECD) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 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.

One company value investors might notice is Tech Data . TECD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 7.08, which compares to its industry's average of 7.97. Over the last 12 months, TECD's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.06 and as low as 6.44, with a median of 7.64.

We also note that TECD holds a PEG ratio of 0.81. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. TECD's industry has an average PEG of 0.95 right now. Within the past year, TECD's PEG has been as high as 1.11 and as low as 0.37, with a median of 0.94.

Another notable valuation metric for TECD is its P/B ratio of 1.07. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.07. Over the past 12 months, TECD's P/B has been as high as 1.50 and as low as 0.91, with a median of 1.10.

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. TECD has a P/S ratio of 0.08. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.19.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that TECD has a P/CF ratio of 8.18. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.77. Over the past year, TECD's P/CF has been as high as 15.55 and as low as 7.13, with a median of 11.31.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Tech Data is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, TECD sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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