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Should Value Investors Buy TransAlta (TAC) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 company to watch right now is TransAlta (TAC - Free Report) . TAC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 15.09 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.94. TAC's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.65 and as low as 4.46, with a median of 12.41, all within the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. TAC has a P/S ratio of 1.2. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.1.

Finally, our model also underscores that TAC has a P/CF ratio of 3.31. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 12.75. Within the past 12 months, TAC's P/CF has been as high as 3.31 and as low as 1.99, with a median of 2.35.

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


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