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Are These Finance Stocks 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

Selective Insurance Group (SIGI - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. SIGI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 15.31 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 32.50. Over the last 12 months, SIGI's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.60 and as low as 12.59, with a median of 14.34.

We also note that SIGI holds a PEG ratio of 1.23. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. SIGI's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 3.17. SIGI's PEG has been as high as 1.64 and as low as 0.94, with a median of 1.15, all within the past year.

If you're looking for another solid Insurance - Property and Casualty value stock, take a look at Stewart Information Services (STC - Free Report) . STC is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Stewart Information Services sports a P/B ratio of 1.26 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.42. In the past 52 weeks, STC's P/B has been as high as 1.77, as low as 1.26, with a median of 1.47.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Selective Insurance Group and Stewart Information Services are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SIGI and STC feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (SIGI) - free report >>

Stewart Information Services Corporation (STC) - free report >>

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