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Are Investors Undervaluing ArcBest (ARCB) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 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 ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) . ARCB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.36. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 23.76. ARCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.34 and as low as 6.45, with a median of 12, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that ARCB has a PEG ratio of 1.26. 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. ARCB's industry has an average PEG of 2.04 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, ARCB's PEG has been as high as 2.19 and as low as 0.92, with a median of 1.36.

We should also highlight that ARCB has a P/B ratio of 1.42. 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 3.05. Within the past 52 weeks, ARCB's P/B has been as high as 1.42 and as low as 0.54, with a median of 0.92.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that ARCB has a P/CF ratio of 7.48. 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 14.67. Within the past 12 months, ARCB's P/CF has been as high as 7.53 and as low as 2.78, with a median of 4.58.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in ArcBest'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, ARCB looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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