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Is USA Truck (USAK) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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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, 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.

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 USA Truck . USAK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.48, while its industry has an average P/E of 29.46. Over the past year, USAK's Forward P/E has been as high as 4,285.73 and as low as -4,143, with a median of 12.85.

Investors should also recognize that USAK has a P/B ratio of 1.68. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.05. Over the past 12 months, USAK's P/B has been as high as 1.68 and as low as 0.32, with a median of 1.

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

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