Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Assurant (AIZ) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 Assurant (AIZ - Free Report) . AIZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is AIZ's P/B ratio of 1.94. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.70. Over the past 12 months, AIZ's P/B has been as high as 2.25 and as low as 1.71, with a median of 1.98.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. AIZ has a P/S ratio of 1.02. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.06.

Another great Insurance - Multi line stock you could consider is SiriusPoint (SPNT - Free Report) , which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

SiriusPoint also has a P/B ratio of 1.08 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 2.70. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 1.33, as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.03.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Assurant and SiriusPoint'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 AIZ and SPNT is an impressive value stock right now.

Published in