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Should Value Investors Buy ADT (ADT) Stock?

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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.

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 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 company value investors might notice is ADT (ADT - Free Report) . ADT is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.49. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 12.79. Over the past year, ADT's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.52 and as low as 8.31, with a median of 9.41.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ADT's P/B ratio of 1.95. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 3.97. ADT's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.56, with a median of 1.82, over the past year.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. ADT has a P/S ratio of 1.05. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.01.

Finally, our model also underscores that ADT has a P/CF ratio of 3.87. 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. ADT's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 9.60. Over the past year, ADT's P/CF has been as high as 4.21 and as low as 2.88, with a median of 3.83.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in ADT's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ADT looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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