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Is Santander Consumer (SC) a Great Value Stock 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.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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.

Santander Consumer is a stock many investors are watching right now. SC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.16, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.02. Over the past 52 weeks, SC's Forward P/E has been as high as 25.27 and as low as 6.66, with a median of 10.13.

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. SC has a P/S ratio of 1.37. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.56.

Finally, investors should note that SC has a P/CF ratio of 2.98. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. SC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 5.06. Within the past 12 months, SC's P/CF has been as high as 2.98 and as low as 1.73, with a median of 2.33.

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

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