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Is Alaska Air Group (ALK) Stock Undervalued 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, 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.

Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ALK 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 8.28 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.47. Over the last 12 months, ALK's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.26 and as low as 5.47, with a median of 7.46.

Investors should also note that ALK holds a PEG ratio of 0.52. 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. ALK's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.06. Within the past year, ALK's PEG has been as high as 0.90 and as low as 0.25, with a median of 0.55.

Investors should also recognize that ALK has a P/B ratio of 1.38. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.71. ALK's P/B has been as high as 1.82 and as low as 0.97, with a median of 1.25, over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Alaska Air 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 ALK is an impressive value stock right now.


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