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Should Value Investors Buy Cardinal Health (CAH) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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.

One company value investors might notice is Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) . CAH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.31. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.16. Over the past year, CAH's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.50 and as low as 11.49, with a median of 13.74.

CAH is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. CAH's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.77. CAH's PEG has been as high as 1.25 and as low as 0.86, with a median of 0.97, all within the past year.

Finally, investors should note that CAH has a P/CF ratio of 20.59. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 21.17. Over the past 52 weeks, CAH's P/CF has been as high as 31.82 and as low as -34.38, with a median of 21.27.

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


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