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Are Investors Undervaluing Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) Right Now?

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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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Kaiser Aluminum (KALU - Free Report) . KALU is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 14.60, which compares to its industry's average of 23.34. Over the past 52 weeks, KALU's Forward P/E has been as high as 26.64 and as low as 11.50, with a median of 14.06.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. KALU has a P/S ratio of 0.39. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.83.

Finally, investors should note that KALU has a P/CF ratio of 7.06. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 22.07. Within the past 12 months, KALU's P/CF has been as high as 10.80 and as low as 4.85, with a median of 7.37.

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


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