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Are Investors Undervaluing Argo Group (ARGO) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 Argo Group . ARGO is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.43. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 25.03. Over the past year, ARGO's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.96 and as low as 8.43, with a median of 13.23.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ARGO's P/B ratio of 0.91. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.17. Over the past year, ARGO's P/B has been as high as 1.32 and as low as 0.82, with a median of 1.04.

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. ARGO has a P/S ratio of 0.62. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.95.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Argo Group's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ARGO looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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