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Should Value Investors Buy Cardinal Health (CAH) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. 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.

Cardinal Health (CAH - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CAH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 15.48 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 17.67. CAH's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.15 and as low as 13.69, with a median of 15.30, all within the past year.

CAH is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.24. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. CAH's industry has an average PEG of 2.27 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, we should also recognize that CAH has a P/CF ratio of 15.27. 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 stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 19.63. 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 are just a handful of the figures considered in Cardinal Health'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 CAH is an impressive value stock right now.

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