Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF - Free Report) . ANF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Investors should also note that ANF holds a PEG ratio of 1.23. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ANF's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.29. Within the past year, ANF's PEG has been as high as 3.74 and as low as 1.16, with a median of 1.61.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ANF's P/B ratio of 1.43. 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 3.19. ANF's P/B has been as high as 1.73 and as low as 0.93, with a median of 1.28, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. ANF has a P/S ratio of 0.49. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.51.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Abercrombie & Fitch'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 ANF is an impressive value stock right now.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Abercrombie & Fitch Company (ANF) - free report >>

Published in