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Is Wabash National (WNC) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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.

One company value investors might notice is Wabash National (WNC - Free Report) . WNC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.07 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.12. WNC's Forward P/E has been as high as 33.38 and as low as 10.73, with a median of 12.72, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that WNC has a P/B ratio of 2.49. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.70. Over the past 12 months, WNC's P/B has been as high as 2.77 and as low as 1.69, with a median of 2.17.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. WNC has a P/S ratio of 0.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.96.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that WNC has a P/CF ratio of 5.22. 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 stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 13.51. Over the past year, WNC's P/CF has been as high as 19.08 and as low as 4.05, with a median of 10.55.

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


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