Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is Crawford & Company (CRD.A) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Crawford & Company (CRD.A - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CRD.A is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.33 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 19.47. Over the last 12 months, CRD.A's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.45 and as low as 5.98, with a median of 8.10.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CRD.A's P/B ratio of 3.47. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.79. Within the past 52 weeks, CRD.A's P/B has been as high as 3.52 and as low as 1.39, with a median of 1.98.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CRD.A has a P/S ratio of 0.39. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.86.

Crawford & Company (CRD.B - Free Report) may be another strong Business - Services stock to add to your shortlist. CRD.B is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Furthermore, Crawford & Company holds a P/B ratio of 3.06 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 3.79. CRD.B's P/B has been as high as 3.15, as low as 1.37, with a median of 1.81 over the past 12 months.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Crawford & Company and Crawford & Company are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CRD.A and CRD.B sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Crawford & Company (CRD.B) - free report >>

Crawford & Company (CRD.A) - free report >>

Published in