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Are Investors Undervaluing CNA Financial (CNA) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is CNA Financial (CNA - Free Report) . CNA is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

CNA is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.74. 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. CNA's industry has an average PEG of 2.44 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, CNA's PEG has been as high as 1.97 and as low as 1.67, with a median of 1.77.

We should also highlight that CNA has a P/B ratio of 1.20. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.52. Within the past 52 weeks, CNA's P/B has been as high as 1.37 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.22.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. CNA has a P/S ratio of 0.9. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.21.

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


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