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Should Value Investors Buy Century Communities (CCS) 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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 Century Communities (CCS - Free Report) . CCS 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 4.55, which compares to its industry's average of 7.33. Over the last 12 months, CCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.59 and as low as 4.48, with a median of 7.13.

Investors should also recognize that CCS has a P/B ratio of 1.49. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.56. Over the past year, CCS's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.49.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CCS has a P/S ratio of 0.57. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.81.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that CCS has a P/CF ratio of 5.98. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.13. CCS's P/CF has been as high as 10.01 and as low as 5.34, with a median of 7.89, all within the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Century Communities'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, CCS looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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