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Is Arch Coal (ARCH) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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.

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 value investors might notice is Arch Coal (ARCH - Free Report) . ARCH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 5.60, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.24. Over the last 12 months, ARCH's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.97 and as low as 5.43, with a median of 6.83.

Investors should also recognize that ARCH has a P/B ratio of 2.15. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 4.29. Within the past 52 weeks, ARCH's P/B has been as high as 2.89 and as low as 2.08, with a median of 2.36.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. ARCH has a P/S ratio of 0.62. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.47.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Arch Coal is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ARCH feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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