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Should Value Investors Buy Anthem (ANTM) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 Anthem . ANTM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 14. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 15.22. Over the last 12 months, ANTM's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.02 and as low as 11.69, with a median of 15.40.

Investors will also notice that ANTM has a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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. ANTM's industry has an average PEG of 1.13 right now. Over the last 12 months, ANTM's PEG has been as high as 1.42 and as low as 0.80, with a median of 1.21.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ANTM's P/B ratio of 2.52. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.44. ANTM's P/B has been as high as 2.88 and as low as 2.03, with a median of 2.41, over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Anthem'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 ANTM is an impressive value stock right now.

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