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Are Investors Undervaluing BGC Partners (BGCP) 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, 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.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is BGC Partners . BGCP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 4.70, which compares to its industry's average of 12.61. BGCP's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.46 and as low as 3.89, with a median of 5.17, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that BGCP has a P/B ratio of 2.02. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.72. Within the past 52 weeks, BGCP's P/B has been as high as 2.85 and as low as 1.56, with a median of 2.06.

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. BGCP has a P/S ratio of 0.78. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.13.

Finally, we should also recognize that BGCP has a P/CF ratio of 4.81. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 16.76. Within the past 12 months, BGCP's P/CF has been as high as 9.66 and as low as 3.81, with a median of 5.05.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in BGC Partners'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 BGCP is an impressive value stock right now.

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