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Are Investors Undervaluing Boise Cascade (BCC) Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

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.

One company to watch right now is Boise Cascade (BCC - Free Report) . BCC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.96, while its industry has an average P/E of 23.26. Over the past 52 weeks, BCC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.74 and as low as 3.13, with a median of 7.83.

Investors should also recognize that BCC has a P/B ratio of 2.02. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 3.17. Within the past 52 weeks, BCC's P/B has been as high as 2.04 and as low as 1.12, with a median of 1.39.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. BCC has a P/S ratio of 0.61. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.24.

Investors could also keep in mind LouisianaPacific (LPX - Free Report) , an Building Products - Wood stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Additionally, LouisianaPacific has a P/B ratio of 3.24 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 3.17. For LPX, this valuation metric has been as high as 3.99, as low as 2.62, with a median of 3.15 over the past year.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Boise Cascade and LouisianaPacific are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, BCC and LPX feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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