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Should Value Investors Buy American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) Stock?

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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.

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.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. AEO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 15.05, while its industry has an average P/E of 17.20. Over the past year, AEO's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.22 and as low as 6.05, with a median of 9.56.

Investors will also notice that AEO has a PEG ratio of 0.84. 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. AEO's industry has an average PEG of 1.31 right now. Within the past year, AEO's PEG has been as high as 1.05 and as low as 0.65, with a median of 0.89.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that AEO has a P/CF ratio of 7.59. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.37. Over the past 52 weeks, AEO's P/CF has been as high as 9.27 and as low as 3.36, with a median of 5.12.

Another great Retail - Apparel and Shoes stock you could consider is Hennes & Mauritz (HNNMY - Free Report) , which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Hennes & Mauritz also has a P/B ratio of 6.09 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 6.84. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 6.27, as low as 4.01, with a median of 4.87.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in American Eagle Outfitters and Hennes & Mauritz'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 AEO and HNNMY is an impressive value stock right now.


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American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) - free report >>

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