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Should Value Investors Buy Sumitomo (SSUMY) 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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 to watch right now is Sumitomo (SSUMY - Free Report) . SSUMY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.82, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.30. Over the past 52 weeks, SSUMY's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.29 and as low as 6.72, with a median of 7.78.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SSUMY's P/B ratio of 1.12. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 2.10. SSUMY's P/B has been as high as 1.12 and as low as 0.76, with a median of 0.89, over the past year.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that SSUMY has a P/CF ratio of 6.52. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.15. Over the past year, SSUMY's P/CF has been as high as 8.05 and as low as 4.80, with a median of 6.74.

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

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