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Should Value Investors Buy Installed Building Products (IBP) Stock?

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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.

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 value investors might notice is Installed Building Products (IBP - Free Report) . IBP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.74 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 12.12. Over the past 52 weeks, IBP's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.45 and as low as 9.34, with a median of 13.63.

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. IBP has a P/S ratio of 1.12. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.31.

Finally, investors should note that IBP has a P/CF ratio of 8.49. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. IBP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 15.45. IBP's P/CF has been as high as 12.24 and as low as 7.09, with a median of 9.13, all within the past year.

PGT Innovations may be another strong Building Products - Miscellaneous stock to add to your shortlist. PGTI is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Shares of PGT Innovations are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 12.74 and a PEG ratio of 0.96 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 12.12 and 0.97, respectively.

Over the last 12 months, PGTI's P/E has been as high as 14.34, as low as 9.24, with a median of 12.32, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.03, as low as 0.84, with a median of 0.89.

PGT Innovations sports a P/B ratio of 2.70 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.56. In the past 52 weeks, PGTI's P/B has been as high as 2.88, as low as 1.70, with a median of 2.40.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Installed Building Products and PGT Innovations are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, IBP and PGTI sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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