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Should Value Investors Buy ArcBest (ARCB) Stock?

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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.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) . ARCB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.45. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 29.44. ARCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.34 and as low as 6.45, with a median of 12.43, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that ARCB has a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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 currently sports an average PEG of 2.53. Within the past year, ARCB's PEG has been as high as 2.19 and as low as 0.88, with a median of 1.28.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ARCB's P/B ratio of 1.67. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.05. ARCB's P/B has been as high as 1.75 and as low as 0.54, with a median of 1.01, over the past year.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that ARCB has a P/CF ratio of 7.67. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. ARCB's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 14.67. Over the past 52 weeks, ARCB's P/CF has been as high as 8.04 and as low as 2.78, with a median of 5.55.

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


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