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Should Value Investors Buy ArcBest (ARCB) Stock?

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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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ARCB is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.85. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.14. Over the past 52 weeks, ARCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.90 and as low as 8.45, with a median of 14.14.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ARCB's P/B ratio of 1.40. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.35. ARCB's P/B has been as high as 1.95 and as low as 1.19, with a median of 1.45, over 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. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. ARCB has a P/S ratio of 0.33. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.95.

Finally, investors should note that ARCB has a P/CF ratio of 5.26. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 7.90. ARCB's P/CF has been as high as 8.06 and as low as 4.47, with a median of 5.67, all within the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in ArcBest's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ARCB looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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