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Should Value Investors Buy Cardinal Health (CAH) 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 value investors might notice is Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) . CAH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 15.48, which compares to its industry's average of 17.24. CAH's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.15 and as low as 13.69, with a median of 15.30, all within the past year.

CAH is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.24. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. CAH's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.78. CAH's PEG has been as high as 1.88 and as low as 1.22, with a median of 1.49, all within the past year.

Finally, investors should note that CAH has a P/CF ratio of 15.27. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. CAH's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 17.76. Over the past 52 weeks, CAH's P/CF has been as high as 17.47 and as low as 12.96, with a median of 15.12.

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


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