Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing Nordstrom (JWN) Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

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 company value investors might notice is Nordstrom . JWN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 12.53, while its industry has an average P/E of 16.52. Over the past 52 weeks, JWN's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.36 and as low as 6.56, with a median of 10.80.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is JWN's P/B ratio of 4.16. 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 4.57. Over the past year, JWN's P/B has been as high as 4.65 and as low as 2.91, with a median of 3.88.

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. JWN has a P/S ratio of 0.25. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.48.

Finally, we should also recognize that JWN has a P/CF ratio of 3.49. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 13.23. Over the past 52 weeks, JWN's P/CF has been as high as 3.82 and as low as 2.45, with a median of 3.22.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Nordstrom'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 JWN is an impressive value stock right now.

Published in