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Are Investors Undervaluing Perdoceo Education (PRDO) 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 use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

One company value investors might notice is Perdoceo Education (PRDO - Free Report) . PRDO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.44, while its industry has an average P/E of 18.78. Over the past year, PRDO's Forward P/E has been as high as 11 and as low as 7.11, with a median of 8.53.

We also note that PRDO holds a PEG ratio of 0.50. 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. PRDO's industry has an average PEG of 0.86 right now. Within the past year, PRDO's PEG has been as high as 0.73 and as low as 0.47, with a median of 0.57.

Another notable valuation metric for PRDO is its P/B ratio of 1.22. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 2.20. Over the past 12 months, PRDO's P/B has been as high as 1.45 and as low as 0.97, with a median of 1.21.

If you're looking for another solid Schools value stock, take a look at Universal Technical Institute (UTI - Free Report) . UTI is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Shares of Universal Technical Institute are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 14.17 and a PEG ratio of 0.94 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 18.78 and 0.86, respectively.

UTI's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 26.44 and as low as 7.55, with a median of 17.74, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.76 and as low as 0.50, with a median of 1.18, all within the past year.

Additionally, Universal Technical Institute has a P/B ratio of 1.54 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.20. For UTI, this valuation metric has been as high as 2.55, as low as 1.22, with a median of 1.65 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Perdoceo Education and Universal Technical Institute'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 PRDO and UTI is an impressive value stock right now.


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