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Are Investors Undervaluing Encompass Health (EHC) 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.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 to watch right now is Encompass Health (EHC - Free Report) . EHC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 19.70 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.89. Over the last 12 months, EHC's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.79 and as low as 16.27, with a median of 18.81.

EHC is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. EHC's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.82. Over the last 12 months, EHC's PEG has been as high as 1.77 and as low as 1.20, with a median of 1.41.

We should also highlight that EHC has a P/B ratio of 3.57. 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. EHC's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.69. EHC's P/B has been as high as 3.70 and as low as 2.83, with a median of 3.27, over the past year.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Encompass Health is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, EHC feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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