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Are Investors Undervaluing Old Republic International (ORI) 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, 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.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Old Republic International (ORI - Free Report) . ORI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.17, which compares to its industry's average of 10.26. ORI's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.18 and as low as 7.42, with a median of 11.88, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ORI's P/B ratio of 0.77. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.37. ORI's P/B has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 1.18, over the past year.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. ORI has a P/S ratio of 0.61. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.77.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that ORI has a P/CF ratio of 4.37. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. ORI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 5.33. Over the past year, ORI's P/CF has been as high as 16.88 and as low as 3.54, with a median of 8.80.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Old Republic International'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 ORI is an impressive value stock right now.


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