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Are Investors Undervaluing United Fire Group (UFCS) Right Now?

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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.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is United Fire Group (UFCS - Free Report) . UFCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 18.30, which compares to its industry's average of 27.60. Over the last 12 months, UFCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 388.25 and as low as -15.43, with a median of 19.74.

Another notable valuation metric for UFCS is its P/B ratio of 0.75. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 1.55. UFCS's P/B has been as high as 0.95 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 0.78, 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. UFCS has a P/S ratio of 0.5. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.27.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in United Fire Group's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that UFCS is an impressive value stock right now.


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