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Are Investors Undervaluing Axis Capital Holdings (AXS) 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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Axis Capital Holdings (AXS - Free Report) . AXS is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

AXS is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.22. 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. AXS's industry currently sports an average PEG of 2.56. Over the past 52 weeks, AXS's PEG has been as high as 1.76 and as low as 1.13, with a median of 1.30.

Another notable valuation metric for AXS is its P/B ratio of 1.11. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.54. AXS's P/B has been as high as 1.31 and as low as 1, with a median of 1.06, 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. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. AXS has a P/S ratio of 0.9. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.17.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that AXS has a P/CF ratio of 7.93. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.17. AXS's P/CF has been as high as 17.12 and as low as 7.23, with a median of 10.92, 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 Axis Capital Holdings is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, AXS feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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