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Are Investors Undervaluing Primoris Services (PRIM) 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, 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.

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 Primoris Services (PRIM - Free Report) . PRIM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 10.25, which compares to its industry's average of 13.74. Over the past year, PRIM's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.16 and as low as 9.03, with a median of 10.75.

Another notable valuation metric for PRIM is its P/B ratio of 1.38. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.82. Within the past 52 weeks, PRIM's P/B has been as high as 2.77 and as low as 1.19, with a median of 1.50.

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. PRIM has a P/S ratio of 0.39. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.58.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that PRIM has a P/CF ratio of 6.20. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.01. PRIM's P/CF has been as high as 10.62 and as low as 5.33, with a median of 6.71, all within the past year.

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


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