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Are Investors Undervaluing ArcBest (ARCB) 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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on 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 is trading with a P/E ratio of 10.69, which compares to its industry's average of 21.11. ARCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.26 and as low as 10.36, with a median of 13.99, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that ARCB has a PEG ratio of 0.70. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ARCB's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.29. Within the past year, ARCB's PEG has been as high as 2.19 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 1.21.

Another notable valuation metric for ARCB is its P/B ratio of 1.67. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. ARCB's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.74. Over the past year, ARCB's P/B has been as high as 2.70 and as low as 0.81, with a median of 1.36.

Finally, our model also underscores that ARCB has a P/CF ratio of 7.09. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 14.62. Over the past year, ARCB's P/CF has been as high as 11.47 and as low as 4.18, with a median of 6.76.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in ArcBest's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ARCB looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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