Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is U.S. Concrete (USCR) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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 stock to keep an eye on is U.S. Concrete . USCR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 17.36, which compares to its industry's average of 23.13. USCR's Forward P/E has been as high as 62.48 and as low as 3.52, with a median of 16.05, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for USCR is its P/B ratio of 1.62. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.59. USCR's P/B has been as high as 1.90 and as low as 0.44, with a median of 1.24, over the past year.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. USCR has a P/S ratio of 0.46. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.04.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that U.S. Concrete is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, USCR feels like a great value stock at the moment.

Published in