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Should Value Investors Buy AAR (AIR) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 AAR (AIR - Free Report) . AIR 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 16.04, while its industry has an average P/E of 26.48. Over the past year, AIR's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.06 and as low as 11.08, with a median of 15.39.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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. AIR has a P/S ratio of 1.02. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.98.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that AIR has a P/CF ratio of 17.45. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. AIR's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 42.05. AIR's P/CF has been as high as 18.31 and as low as 10.24, with a median of 15.48, all within the past year.

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


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