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Is Macy's (M) Stock Undervalued 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, 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.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is Macy's (M - Free Report) . M is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.15, while its industry has an average P/E of 15.64. Over the last 12 months, M's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.61 and as low as 4.69, with a median of 6.13.

Investors should also recognize that M has a P/B ratio of 1.06. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 2.21. Over the past 12 months, M's P/B has been as high as 1.21 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.86.

Finally, we should also recognize that M has a P/CF ratio of 3.47. 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. M's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 7.36. Within the past 12 months, M's P/CF has been as high as 5.04 and as low as 1.92, with a median of 2.70.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Macy's's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that M is an impressive value stock right now.


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