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Are Investors Undervaluing Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII - Free Report) . HII is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.23 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 19.25. HII's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.41 and as low as 11.78, with a median of 13.65, all within the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. HII has a P/S ratio of 0.84. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.3.

Finally, investors should note that HII has a P/CF ratio of 9.50. 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. HII's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 28.19. Over the past year, HII's P/CF has been as high as 10.58 and as low as 7.47, with a median of 8.79.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Huntington Ingalls Industries is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, HII feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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