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Should Value Investors Buy Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) 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.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is Kaiser Aluminum (KALU - Free Report) . KALU is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 18.26, which compares to its industry's average of 23.94. Over the past 52 weeks, KALU's Forward P/E has been as high as 39.55 and as low as 10.84, with a median of 17.38.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. KALU has a P/S ratio of 0.4. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.68.

Finally, we should also recognize that KALU has a P/CF ratio of 8.13. 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 28.15. Over the past year, KALU's P/CF has been as high as 15.32 and as low as 6.50, with a median of 10.09.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Kaiser Aluminum'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, KALU looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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