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Are Investors Undervaluing Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) 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 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.

One stock to keep an eye on is Healthcare Services Group (HCSG - Free Report) . HCSG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that HCSG has a 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 2.92. 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 0.83. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.18.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Healthcare Services Group'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 HCSG is an impressive value stock right now.

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