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Is Meta Financial (CASH) 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.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Meta Financial (CASH - Free Report) . CASH 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 7.59 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.85. Over the past 52 weeks, CASH's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.68 and as low as 4.33, with a median of 9.22.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CASH has a P/S ratio of 1.27. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.95.

Finally, investors should note that CASH has a P/CF ratio of 3.64. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.23. Over the past year, CASH's P/CF has been as high as 9.74 and as low as 2.74, with a median of 8.17.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Meta Financial's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, CASH looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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