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Should Value Investors Buy Prudential (PRU) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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

Prudential (PRU - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. PRU 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 7.66 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.07. Over the past year, PRU's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.62 and as low as 5.45, with a median of 6.79.

Investors will also notice that PRU has a PEG ratio of 0.73. 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. PRU's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.12. Within the past year, PRU's PEG has been as high as 1.76 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.72.

Investors should also recognize that PRU has a P/B ratio of 0.67. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.55. PRU's P/B has been as high as 0.73 and as low as 0.36, with a median of 0.47, over the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. PRU has a P/S ratio of 0.7. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.12.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Prudential's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that PRU is an impressive value stock right now.


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