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Are Investors Undervaluing Target (TGT) Right Now?

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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.

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 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.

Target (TGT - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. TGT is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 15.21, while its industry has an average P/E of 26.54. Over the past year, TGT's Forward P/E has been as high as 32.60 and as low as 12.31, with a median of 15.02.

TGT is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.07. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. TGT's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 2.44. TGT's PEG has been as high as 3.31 and as low as 0.87, with a median of 1.05, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for TGT is its P/B ratio of 5.05. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 12.69. TGT's P/B has been as high as 7.42 and as low as 3.94, with a median of 5.30, over the past year.

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 prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. TGT has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.99.

Finally, we should also recognize that TGT has a P/CF ratio of 9.90. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 25.72. Over the past 52 weeks, TGT's P/CF has been as high as 15.28 and as low as 7.72, with a median of 11.34.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Target is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, TGT sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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