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Should Value Investors Buy Molina Healthcare (MOH) Stock?

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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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Molina Healthcare (MOH - Free Report) . MOH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 18.05, which compares to its industry's average of 19.58. MOH's Forward P/E has been as high as 23.62 and as low as 13.75, with a median of 17.50, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that MOH has a PEG ratio of 1.08. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MOH's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.35. Within the past year, MOH's PEG has been as high as 1.12 and as low as 0.74, with a median of 0.97.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MOH has a P/S ratio of 0.68. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.71.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Molina Healthcare is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, MOH sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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