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Is Quanex Building Products (NX) a Great Value Stock 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 use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 Quanex Building Products (NX - Free Report) . NX is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.35. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.59. Over the past 52 weeks, NX's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.45 and as low as 9.26, with a median of 11.40.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. NX has a P/S ratio of 0.66. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.16.

Finally, investors should note that NX has a P/CF ratio of 6.64. 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. NX's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.76. Over the past year, NX's P/CF has been as high as 8.57 and as low as 5.57, with a median of 7.26.

Another great Building Products - Miscellaneous stock you could consider is PGT Innovations , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

PGT Innovations also has a P/B ratio of 1.95 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 169.46. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 2.71, as low as 1.75, with a median of 2.33.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Quanex Building Products and PGT Innovations's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that NX and PGTI is an impressive value stock right now.


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