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Is CNO Financial (CNO) a Great Value Stock 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader 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 stock to keep an eye on is CNO Financial (CNO - Free Report) . CNO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

We should also highlight that CNO has a P/B ratio of 0.65. 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. CNO's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.02. Over the past year, CNO's P/B has been as high as 0.66 and as low as 0.29, with a median of 0.51.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CNO has a P/S ratio of 0.86. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.

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


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