Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing Reinsurance Group of America (RGA) Right Now?

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.

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.

Reinsurance Group of America (RGA - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. RGA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.54. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.92. Over the last 12 months, RGA's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.24 and as low as 7.17, with a median of 8.48.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is RGA's P/B ratio of 1.02. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 2.28. Over the past year, RGA's P/B has been as high as 1.47 and as low as 0.96, with a median of 1.18.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by 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. RGA has a P/S ratio of 0.62. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.75.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Reinsurance Group of America is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, RGA sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

Published in