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Should Value Investors Buy American International Group (AIG) Stock?

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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.

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.

American International Group (AIG - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. AIG 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 9.58, which compares to its industry's average of 9.68. Over the past year, AIG's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.69 and as low as 7.98, with a median of 10.07.

AIG is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.96. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AIG's industry has an average PEG of 1.58 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, AIG's PEG has been as high as 1.47 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.03.

Investors should also recognize that AIG has a P/B ratio of 1.12. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.12. Within the past 52 weeks, AIG's P/B has been as high as 1.18 and as low as 0.66, with a median of 0.88.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. AIG has a P/S ratio of 0.74. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.89.

Investors could also keep in mind CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) , an Insurance - Multi line stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

CNO Financial Group also has a P/B ratio of 2.30 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.12. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 2.30, as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.94.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in American International Group and CNO Financial Group strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, AIG and CNO look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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