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Is Rio Tinto (RIO) 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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

Rio Tinto (RIO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. RIO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 5.38, which compares to its industry's average of 7.22. Over the past year, RIO's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.49 and as low as 5.02, with a median of 7.89.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is RIO's P/B ratio of 1.99. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 3.46. Over the past year, RIO's P/B has been as high as 2.28 and as low as 1.58, with a median of 1.94.

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


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