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Are Investors Undervaluing Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM) 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 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 to watch right now is Sprouts Farmers Market (SFM - Free Report) . SFM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 11.89, which compares to its industry's average of 12.35. Over the past year, SFM's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.37 and as low as 10.38, with a median of 12.71.

Finally, investors should note that SFM has a P/CF ratio of 6.28. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.42. SFM's P/CF has been as high as 7.99 and as low as 4.90, with a median of 6.28, all within the past year.

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

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