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Should Value Investors Buy Sprouts Farmers (SFM) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 Sprouts Farmers (SFM - Free Report) . SFM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.70 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.53. SFM's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.93 and as low as 10.28, with a median of 15.76, all within the past year.

We also note that SFM holds a PEG ratio of 1.37. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. SFM's industry has an average PEG of 1.71 right now. SFM's PEG has been as high as 4.78 and as low as 1.37, with a median of 2.21, all within the past year.

Finally, investors should note that SFM has a P/CF ratio of 6.36. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.44. SFM's P/CF has been as high as 7.95 and as low as 4.44, with a median of 6.92, all within the past year.

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


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