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Should Value Investors Buy National General Holdings (NGHC) 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, 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 use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 National General Holdings . NGHC 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 8.37. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 25.03. NGHC's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.45 and as low as 7.86, with a median of 8.95, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for NGHC is its P/B ratio of 1.37. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.41. Within the past 52 weeks, NGHC's P/B has been as high as 1.89 and as low as 1.26, with a median of 1.47.

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. NGHC has a P/S ratio of 0.57. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.11.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that NGHC has a P/CF ratio of 7.74. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. NGHC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.66. Within the past 12 months, NGHC's P/CF has been as high as 11.81 and as low as 7.09, with a median of 9.16.

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

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