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Are Investors Undervaluing Hub Group (HUBG) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. 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.

Hub Group (HUBG - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. HUBG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.73, while its industry has an average P/E of 11.75. Over the last 12 months, HUBG's Forward P/E has been as high as 21.60 and as low as 7.84, with a median of 10.29.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is HUBG's P/B ratio of 1.81. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 3.22. Over the past year, HUBG's P/B has been as high as 2.40 and as low as 1.49, with a median of 1.83.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. HUBG has a P/S ratio of 0.5. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.59.

Finally, investors should note that HUBG has a P/CF ratio of 5.24. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.50. Over the past year, HUBG's P/CF has been as high as 12.39 and as low as 4.55, with a median of 6.61.

Another great Transportation - Services stock you could consider is Universal Logistics (ULH - Free Report) , which is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Universal Logistics sports a P/B ratio of 2.49 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.22. In the past 52 weeks, ULH's P/B has been as high as 2.91, as low as 1.43, with a median of 1.93.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Hub Group and Universal Logistics are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, HUBG and ULH feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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