Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing MI Homes (MHO) Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

MI Homes (MHO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MHO is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 4.52, while its industry has an average P/E of 7.14. Over the past 52 weeks, MHO's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.13 and as low as 2.52, with a median of 5.24.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MHO's P/B ratio of 0.93. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.12. Over the past year, MHO's P/B has been as high as 1.22 and as low as 0.54, with a median of 0.84.

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. MHO has a P/S ratio of 0.53. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.63.

Finally, our model also underscores that MHO has a P/CF ratio of 4.62. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 6.13. Within the past 12 months, MHO's P/CF has been as high as 5.77 and as low as 2.20, with a median of 3.60.

Another great Building Products - Home Builders stock you could consider is Toll Brothers (TOL - Free Report) , which is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Toll Brothers is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 5.69 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.57. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 7.14 and average PEG ratio of 0.40.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) - free report >>

M/I Homes, Inc. (MHO) - free report >>

Published in