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Should Value Investors Buy Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 value investors might notice is Affiliated Managers Group (AMG - Free Report) . AMG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.35, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.02. Over the last 12 months, AMG's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.30 and as low as 7.32, with a median of 8.79.

Investors should also note that AMG holds a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. AMG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.03. Within the past year, AMG's PEG has been as high as 0.68 and as low as 0.50, with a median of 0.57.

Another notable valuation metric for AMG is its P/B ratio of 2.21. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.88. Within the past 52 weeks, AMG's P/B has been as high as 2.45 and as low as 1.30, with a median of 2.06.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. AMG has a P/S ratio of 3. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.25.

Finally, we should also recognize that AMG has a P/CF ratio of 13.76. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. AMG's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.93. AMG's P/CF has been as high as 19.96 and as low as 11.85, with a median of 14.15, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Affiliated Managers Group'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 AMG is an impressive value stock right now.


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