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Should Value Investors Buy Assurant (AIZ) Stock?

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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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Assurant (AIZ - Free Report) . AIZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that AIZ has a P/B ratio of 1.98. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.67. Over the past 12 months, AIZ's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.31, with a median of 1.64.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. AIZ has a P/S ratio of 0.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Assurant's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, AIZ looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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