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Should Value Investors Buy Acco Brands (ACCO) Stock?

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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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 company to watch right now is Acco Brands (ACCO - Free Report) . ACCO 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 6.11 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.70. Over the last 12 months, ACCO's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.03 and as low as 5.51, with a median of 6.89.

Investors will also notice that ACCO has a PEG ratio of 0.95. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. ACCO's industry currently sports an average PEG of 2.39. Over the last 12 months, ACCO's PEG has been as high as 1.29 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 1.08.

Another notable valuation metric for ACCO is its P/B ratio of 1.12. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.60. Over the past year, ACCO's P/B has been as high as 1.30 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 1.09.

Finally, investors should note that ACCO has a P/CF ratio of 5.51. 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 16.45. ACCO's P/CF has been as high as 8.08 and as low as 3.40, with a median of 5.68, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Acco Brands'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 ACCO is an impressive value stock right now.


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