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Should Value Investors Buy Barrett Business Services (BBSI) Stock?

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

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 stock to keep an eye on is Barrett Business Services (BBSI - Free Report) . BBSI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 15.10, while its industry has an average P/E of 22.88. Over the past 52 weeks, BBSI's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.31 and as low as 11.21, with a median of 14.18.

Investors will also notice that BBSI has a PEG ratio of 1.08. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. BBSI's industry currently sports an average PEG of 2.41. Over the past 52 weeks, BBSI's PEG has been as high as 1.17 and as low as 0.80, with a median of 1.01.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BBSI's P/B ratio of 4.31. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 12.37. Over the past 12 months, BBSI's P/B has been as high as 4.37 and as low as 3.20, with a median of 3.71.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. BBSI has a P/S ratio of 0.76. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.13.

Finally, our model also underscores that BBSI has a P/CF ratio of 14.41. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. BBSI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 15.92. BBSI's P/CF has been as high as 14.79 and as low as 10.74, with a median of 13.02, all within the past year.

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


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