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Are Investors Undervaluing Huron Consulting Group (HURN) Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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.

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 value investors might notice is Huron Consulting Group (HURN - Free Report) . HURN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 18.16, while its industry has an average P/E of 25.17. Over the past 52 weeks, HURN's Forward P/E has been as high as 21.35 and as low as 13.80, with a median of 17.32.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is HURN's P/B ratio of 4.32. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 6.91. Over the past 12 months, HURN's P/B has been as high as 4.82 and as low as 3.10, with a median of 3.92.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. HURN has a P/S ratio of 1.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.66.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that HURN has a P/CF ratio of 17.52. 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. HURN's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 18.78. Over the past year, HURN's P/CF has been as high as 21.59 and as low as 15.68, with a median of 18.52.

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


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