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Are These Finance Stocks Undervalued 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Oportun Financial (OPRT - Free Report) . OPRT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.65 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 12.46. Over the past year, OPRT's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.08 and as low as 6.65, with a median of 10.39.

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. OPRT has a P/S ratio of 0.89. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.5.

Finally, investors should note that OPRT has a P/CF ratio of 8.14. 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 26.37. OPRT's P/CF has been as high as 20.34 and as low as -103.43, with a median of 9.17, all within the past year.

Another great Financial - Miscellaneous Services stock you could consider is PJT Partners (PJT - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

PJT Partners also has a P/B ratio of 2.83 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 4.62. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 3.63, as low as 2.29, with a median of 2.81.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Oportun Financial and PJT Partners are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, OPRT and PJT sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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PJT Partners Inc. (PJT) - free report >>

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