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Is Amalgamated Financial (AMAL) a Great Value Stock 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.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Amalgamated Financial (AMAL - Free Report) . AMAL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 7.27, which compares to its industry's average of 8.82. Over the past year, AMAL's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.97 and as low as 6.91, with a median of 8.53.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. AMAL has a P/S ratio of 1.86. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.32.

Finally, our model also underscores that AMAL has a P/CF ratio of 7.51. 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. AMAL's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.57. Within the past 12 months, AMAL's P/CF has been as high as 10.58 and as low as 6.90, with a median of 8.38.

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


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