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Should Value Investors Buy Ameriprise Financial (AMP) Stock?

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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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

Ameriprise Financial (AMP - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. AMP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.26 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.86. Over the past year, AMP's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.63 and as low as 10.72, with a median of 13.43.

AMP is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.98. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. AMP's industry has an average PEG of 1.10 right now. Within the past year, AMP's PEG has been as high as 1.96 and as low as 0.73, with a median of 1.04.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. AMP has a P/S ratio of 2.63. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.18.

Finally, our model also underscores that AMP has a P/CF ratio of 15.60. 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 41.95. Within the past 12 months, AMP's P/CF has been as high as 23.08 and as low as 14.74, with a median of 17.06.

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


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