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Should Value Investors Buy Herc Holdings (HRI) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of 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.

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 value investors might notice is Herc Holdings (HRI - Free Report) . HRI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 12.24, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.32. Over the past year, HRI's Forward P/E has been as high as 26.99 and as low as 7.77, with a median of 11.71.

HRI is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.93. 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. HRI's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.12. Over the past 52 weeks, HRI's PEG has been as high as 4.54 and as low as 0.88, with a median of 1.07.

Investors should also recognize that HRI has a P/B ratio of 2.07. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 3.98. Over the past year, HRI's P/B has been as high as 4.60 and as low as 1.92, with a median of 2.82.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. HRI has a P/S ratio of 0.85. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.04.

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

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