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Is Penn National Gaming (PENN) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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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 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 stock to keep an eye on is Penn National Gaming (PENN - Free Report) . PENN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.07 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.61. PENN's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.36 and as low as 8.51, with a median of 12.34, all within the past year.

PENN is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.91. 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. PENN's industry has an average PEG of 1.55 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, PENN's PEG has been as high as 2.24 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 1.23.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. PENN has a P/S ratio of 0.47. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.4.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that PENN has a P/CF ratio of 4.80. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. PENN's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.86. PENN's P/CF has been as high as 69.76 and as low as 4.35, with a median of 6.16, all within the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Penn National Gaming is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, PENN sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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