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Are Investors Undervaluing ViacomCBS (VIAC) 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.

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 value investors might notice is ViacomCBS . VIAC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.25 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.20. Over the past 52 weeks, VIAC's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.93 and as low as 1.85, with a median of 5.83.

VIAC is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.64. 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. VIAC's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.50. VIAC's PEG has been as high as 0.71 and as low as 0.14, with a median of 0.56, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that VIAC has a P/B ratio of 1.19. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 1.27. Over the past year, VIAC's P/B has been as high as 3.17 and as low as 0.52, with a median of 1.17.

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. VIAC has a P/S ratio of 0.74. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.85.

Finally, our model also underscores that VIAC has a P/CF ratio of 1.20. 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 2.04. VIAC's P/CF has been as high as 2.90 and as low as 0.43, with a median of 1.16, all within the past year.

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

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