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Is Banco Santander (SAN) 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 Banco Santander (SAN - Free Report) . SAN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.79. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.80. SAN's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.78 and as low as 4.78, with a median of 7.37, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SAN's P/B ratio of 0.50. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.42. Within the past 52 weeks, SAN's P/B has been as high as 0.66 and as low as 0.42, with a median of 0.55.

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. SAN has a P/S ratio of 1. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.77.

Finally, we should also recognize that SAN has a P/CF ratio of 4.24. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. SAN's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 13.27. Over the past 52 weeks, SAN's P/CF has been as high as 7.04 and as low as 3.60, with a median of 5.14.

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


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