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Should Value Investors Buy United Fire Group (UFCS) Stock?

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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.

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

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.

One company to watch right now is United Fire Group (UFCS - Free Report) . UFCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.16 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 25.81. Over the last 12 months, UFCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.43 and as low as 9.98, with a median of 11.30.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is UFCS's P/B ratio of 0.94. 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. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.31. Over the past year, UFCS's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.87.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. UFCS has a P/S ratio of 0.87. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.28.

Finally, investors should note that UFCS has a P/CF ratio of 7.83. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.88. UFCS's P/CF has been as high as 13.42 and as low as 6.53, with a median of 9.51, all within the past year.

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

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