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Are Investors Undervaluing Dollar General (DG) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 Dollar General (DG - Free Report) . DG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 15.89 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 29.47. Over the past 52 weeks, DG's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.69 and as low as 11.46, with a median of 13.98.

Investors will also notice that DG has a PEG ratio of 2.05. 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. DG's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 3.48. Within the past year, DG's PEG has been as high as 2.91 and as low as 1.96, with a median of 2.29.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. DG has a P/S ratio of 0.54. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.87.

Finally, investors should note that DG has a P/CF ratio of 10.24. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 30.19. Over the past year, DG's P/CF has been as high as 11.93 and as low as 6.61, with a median of 8.66.

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


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