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Should Value Investors Buy Brighthouse Financial (BHF) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company value investors might notice is Brighthouse Financial (BHF - Free Report) . BHF is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Another notable valuation metric for BHF is its P/B ratio of 0.65. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.94. Within the past 52 weeks, BHF's P/B has been as high as 0.87 and as low as 0.58, with a median of 0.67.

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. BHF has a P/S ratio of 0.65. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.99.

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


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