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Is Prudential (PRU) Stock Undervalued 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.

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.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Prudential (PRU - Free Report) . PRU is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.77 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.32. Over the last 12 months, PRU's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.62 and as low as 5.45, with a median of 6.71.

Investors should also note that PRU holds a PEG ratio of 0.74. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. PRU's industry has an average PEG of 1.16 right now. Over the last 12 months, PRU's PEG has been as high as 1.76 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.71.

Another notable valuation metric for PRU is its P/B ratio of 0.68. 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. PRU's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.59. Over the past 12 months, PRU's P/B has been as high as 0.73 and as low as 0.34, with a median of 0.46.

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. PRU has a P/S ratio of 0.72. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.14.

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


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