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Should Value Investors Buy Rio Tinto (RIO) 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.

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

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company value investors might notice is Rio Tinto (RIO - Free Report) . RIO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 5.90 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 7.38. Over the past year, RIO's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.65 and as low as 5.78, with a median of 8.47.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is RIO's P/B ratio of 1.95. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. RIO's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.05. RIO's P/B has been as high as 2.28 and as low as 1.52, with a median of 1.88, over the past year.

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


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