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Are Investors Undervaluing Atlanticus (ATLC) 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

Atlanticus (ATLC - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ATLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.89, which compares to its industry's average of 24.73. Over the past year, ATLC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.46 and as low as 6.34, with a median of 8.26.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ATLC's P/B ratio of 1.9. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.66. ATLC's P/B has been as high as 2.08 and as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.54, over the past year.

Finally, investors should note that ATLC has a P/CF ratio of 9.19. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. ATLC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 19.77. Over the past year, ATLC's P/CF has been as high as 9.96 and as low as 4.95, with a median of 6.94.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Atlanticus's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ATLC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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