Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put New Senior Investment Group Inc. stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, New Senior Investment has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 7.51. This level actually compares pretty favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 19.88. If we focus on the recent PE trend, New Senior Investment’s current PE level puts it below its midpoint of 8.08, over the past one year. Moreover, the current level stands below the highs for this stock, suggesting it might be a good entry point.




Further, the stock’s PE also compares favorably with the Zacks classified Finance sector’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 16.04. At the very least, this indicates that the stock is largely undervalued right now, compared to its peers.
 

 

We should also point out that New Senior Investment has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of 7.70, so we might say that the forward earnings estimates indicate that the company’s share price will likely appreciate in the near future.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, New Senior Investment has a P/S ratio of about 1.66. This stands lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 2.98 right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is well below the highs for this stock in particular over the past two years.

 

If anything, SNR is in the lower end of its range in the time period from a P/S metric, suggesting some level of undervalued trading—at least compared to historical norms.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, New Senior Investment currently has a Zacks Value Style Score of ‘B’, putting it into the top 40% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes New Senior Investment a solid choice for value investors, and some of its other key metrics make this pretty clear too.

For example, the PEG ratio for New Senior Investment is just 1.02, a level that is lower than the industry average of 3.02. The PEG ratio is a modified PE ratio that takes into account the stock’s earnings growth rate. Additionally, its P/CF ratio (another great indicator of value) comes in at 7.98, which is far better than the industry average of 16.63. Clearly, SNR is a solid choice on the value front from multiple angles.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though New Senior Investment might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth grade of ‘B’ and a Momentum score of ‘A’. This gives SNR a Zacks VGM score—or its overarching fundamental grade—of ‘A’. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)

However, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been disappointing. Both, the current quarter and the full year have seen one estimate go down each, in the past sixty days, compared to no upward revision in the same time period.

This has had a negative impact on the consensus estimate, as the current quarter consensus estimate has declined by 5.6% in the past two months, while the full year estimate has dropped by 4.5%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

This bearish trend is why the stock has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) and why we fear that the company might disappoint in the near term.

Bottom Line

New Senior Investment is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. However, despite a decent industry rank (Top 35% out of more than 250 industries),  a Zacks Rank #4, makes it is hard to get too excited about this company overall. In fact, over the past two years, the Zacks categorized REIT – Equity Trust industry has clearly underperformed the broader market, as you can see below:



So, value investors might want to wait for estimates and analyst sentiment to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.

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