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Is Carnival (CCL) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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 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.

One company to watch right now is Carnival (CCL - Free Report) . CCL is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.14. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.99. Over the past 52 weeks, CCL's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.38 and as low as 10.05, with a median of 13.44.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CCL's P/B ratio of 3.38. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 4.86. Over the past 12 months, CCL's P/B has been as high as 3.40 and as low as 2.10, with a median of 2.70.

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. CCL has a P/S ratio of 1.19. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.39.

Finally, our model also underscores that CCL has a P/CF ratio of 8.38. 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. CCL's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 18.35. CCL's P/CF has been as high as 24.17 and as low as 5.11, with a median of 6.73, all within the past year.

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


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