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Is Post Holdings (POST) Stock Undervalued 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.

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 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.

Post Holdings (POST - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. POST is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.87 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 13.63. Over the last 12 months, POST's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.52 and as low as 12.72, with a median of 16.42.

Another notable valuation metric for POST is its P/B ratio of 1.44. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.59. Over the past 12 months, POST's P/B has been as high as 1.75 and as low as 1.42, with a median of 1.62.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. POST has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.74.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that POST has a P/CF ratio of 7.45. 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. POST's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 10.73. Within the past 12 months, POST's P/CF has been as high as 9.41 and as low as 7.35, with a median of 8.35.

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

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