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Should Value Investors Buy First American Financial (FAF) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is First American Financial (FAF - Free Report) . FAF is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.43, while its industry has an average P/E of 28.13. FAF's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.32 and as low as 9.75, with a median of 11.61, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for FAF is its P/B ratio of 1.31. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.52. FAF's P/B has been as high as 1.43 and as low as 1.08, with a median of 1.29, over the past year.

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 preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. FAF has a P/S ratio of 0.94. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.25.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in First American Financial'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 FAF is an impressive value stock right now.


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