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Is U.S. Concrete (USCR) Stock Undervalued 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.

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 company to watch right now is U.S. Concrete . USCR is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 19.97, which compares to its industry's average of 22.17. Over the past year, USCR's Forward P/E has been as high as 29.24 and as low as 12.65, with a median of 19.89.

Another notable valuation metric for USCR is its P/B ratio of 2.38. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 4.85. Within the past 52 weeks, USCR's P/B has been as high as 3.19 and as low as 0.81, with a median of 1.50.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. USCR has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.54.

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

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