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Should Value Investors Buy Argo Group (ARGO) Stock?

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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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

Argo Group is a stock many investors are watching right now. ARGO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.56, while its industry has an average P/E of 25.13. Over the past 52 weeks, ARGO's Forward P/E has been as high as 27.47 and as low as 4.73, with a median of 9.06.

We should also highlight that ARGO has a P/B ratio of 0.87. 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. ARGO's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.53. Over the past 12 months, ARGO's P/B has been as high as 1.14 and as low as 0.52, with a median of 0.83.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. ARGO has a P/S ratio of 0.54. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.95.

Another great Insurance - Property and Casualty stock you could consider is Everest Re Group , which is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Everest Re Group is trading at a forward earnings multiple of 8.70 at the moment, with a PEG ratio of 0.73. This compares to its industry's average P/E of 25.13 and average PEG ratio of 2.13.

Over the last 12 months, RE's P/E has been as high as 14.42, as low as 6.22, with a median of 7.92, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.07, as low as 0.17, with a median of 0.70.

Additionally, Everest Re Group has a P/B ratio of 1.94 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 1.53. For RE, this valuation metric has been as high as 1.94, as low as 1.05, with a median of 1.43 over the past year.

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

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