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Are Investors Undervaluing Cardinal Health (CAH) 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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company value investors might notice is Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) . CAH is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and 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 16.51. Over the last 12 months, CAH's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.15 and as low as 13.69, with a median of 15.30.

CAH is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.24. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. CAH's industry has an average PEG of 1.85 right now. Within the past year, CAH's PEG has been as high as 1.88 and as low as 1.22, with a median of 1.49.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that CAH has a P/CF ratio of 15.27. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. CAH's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.54. Over the past year, 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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