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Zacks.com featured highlights include: Hibbett, Genesco, Quanta, Synnex and Principal Financial

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 24, 2019 - Stocks in this week’s article are Hibbett Sports, Inc. , Genesco Inc. (GCO - Free Report) , Quanta Services, Inc. (PWR - Free Report) , Synnex Corp. (SNX - Free Report) and Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG - Free Report) .

Tap These 5 Bargain Stocks with Exciting EV/EBITDA Ratios

The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is widely considered by investors as a yardstick for evaluating the fair market value of a stock. Many value investors prefer to take the P/E route in their pursuit for stocks that are trading at a bargain. However, even this universally used valuation multiple is not without its flaws.

What Makes EV/EBITDA a Better Alternative?

Although P/E is preferred by many investors while uncovering bargain stocks, another valuation metric called EV/EBITDA does a better job. The ratio is sometimes viewed as a superior substitute as it offers a clearer picture of a firm’s valuation and its earnings potential. EV/EBITDA has a more comprehensive approach to valuation as it determines a firm’s total value. In contrast, P/E considers only a firm’s equity portion.

EV/EBITDA is the enterprise value (EV) of a stock divided by its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA). EV is the sum of a company’s market capitalization, its debt and preferred stock minus cash and cash equivalents.

The other component of the multiple, EBITDA gives a clearer picture of a company’s profitability as it eliminates the impact of non-cash expenses like depreciation and amortization that dilute net earnings. It is also often used as a proxy for cash flows.

Generally, the lower the EV/EBITDA ratio, the more attractive it is. A low EV/EBITDA ratio could signal that a stock is potentially undervalued. 

EV/EBITDA takes into account the debt on a company’s balance sheet that P/E ratio does not. Given this reason, EV/EBITDA is usually used to value possible acquisition targets. Stocks with a low EV/EBITDA multiple could be seen as potential takeover candidates.

Another shortcoming of P/E is that it can’t be used to value a loss-making firm. A company’s earnings are also subject to accounting estimates and management manipulation. In contrast, EV/EBITDA is less open to manipulation and can also be used to value companies that are making loss but are EBITDA-positive.

EV/EBITDA is also a useful tool in measuring the value of firms that are highly leveraged and have a high degree of depreciation. Moreover, the ratio allows the comparison of companies with different debt levels.

Then again, EV/EBITDA has its shortcomings too. It varies across industries (a high-growth industry normally has higher multiple and vice versa) and is typically not appropriate while comparing stocks in different industries given their diverse capital expenditure requirements.

Thus, a strategy only based on EV/EBITDA might not fetch the desired results. But you can club it with other key ratios such as price-to-book (P/B), P/E and price-to-sales (P/S) to screen bargain stocks.

For the rest of this Screen of the Week article please visit Zacks.com at: https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/447186/tap-these-5-bargain-stocks-with-exciting-evebitda-ratios

Disclosure: Officers, directors and/or employees of Zacks Investment Research may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material. An affiliated investment advisory firm may own or have sold short securities and/or hold long and/or short positions in options that are mentioned in this material.

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Strong Stocks that Should Be in the News

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