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Is Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 to watch right now is Healthcare Services Group (HCSG - Free Report) . HCSG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 17.15 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.25. Over the past year, HCSG's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.66 and as low as 11.54, with a median of 14.77.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is HCSG's P/B ratio of 2.4. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. HCSG's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.71. Over the past 12 months, HCSG's P/B has been as high as 2.51 and as low as 1.33, with a median of 1.77.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. HCSG has a P/S ratio of 0.77. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.9.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Healthcare Services Group's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, HCSG looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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