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Is American Financial Group (AFG) Stock Undervalued 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company value investors might notice is American Financial Group (AFG - Free Report) . AFG 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 8.30. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.83. Over the past 52 weeks, AFG's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.92 and as low as 5.20, with a median of 11.40.

Investors should also note that AFG holds a PEG ratio of 1.37. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. AFG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 3.16. Over the last 12 months, AFG's PEG has been as high as 2.37 and as low as 0.80, with a median of 1.91.

Another notable valuation metric for AFG is its P/B ratio of 1.12. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.20. Over the past year, AFG's P/B has been as high as 1.65 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 1.47.

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. AFG has a P/S ratio of 0.76. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.79.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in American Financial Group'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, AFG looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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