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Are These Business Services Stocks a Great Value Stocks 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.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

Randstad Holding (RANJY - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. RANJY is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 11.73. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.41. Over the last 12 months, RANJY's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.37 and as low as 11.73, with a median of 15.31.

Another notable valuation metric for RANJY is its P/B ratio of 2.12. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 3.50. Over the past year, RANJY's P/B has been as high as 2.86 and as low as 2.12, with a median of 2.46.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. RANJY has a P/S ratio of 0.41. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.71.

Finally, our model also underscores that RANJY has a P/CF ratio of 11.19. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. RANJY's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 21.06. Within the past 12 months, RANJY's P/CF has been as high as 19.05 and as low as 11.19, with a median of 14.91.

SThree (STREF - Free Report) may be another strong Staffing Firms stock to add to your shortlist. STREF is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

SThree also has a P/B ratio of 2.37 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.50. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 2.90, as low as 2.37, with a median of 2.69.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Randstad Holding and SThree strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, RANJY and STREF look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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