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Should Value Investors Buy Haverty Furniture (HVT) Stock?

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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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. 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.

Haverty Furniture (HVT - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. HVT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.03. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.16. Over the past year, HVT's Forward P/E has been as high as 30.88 and as low as -253.50, with a median of 19.55.

Investors should also recognize that HVT has a P/B ratio of 3.07. 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. HVT's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 8.66. Over the past 12 months, HVT's P/B has been as high as 3.25 and as low as 0.94, with a median of 1.79.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. HVT has a P/S ratio of 1. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.38.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that HVT has a P/CF ratio of 9.05. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 20.49. Within the past 12 months, HVT's P/CF has been as high as 9.84 and as low as 5.70, with a median of 8.32.

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


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