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Is United Natural Foods (UNFI) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is United Natural Foods (UNFI - Free Report) . UNFI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.99, while its industry has an average P/E of 17.07. Over the past year, UNFI's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.97 and as low as 9.04, with a median of 13.89.

UNFI is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.25. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. UNFI's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.73. Over the past 52 weeks, UNFI's PEG has been as high as 3.76 and as low as 1.09, with a median of 2.35.

We should also highlight that UNFI has a P/B ratio of 0.99. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.90. UNFI's P/B has been as high as 1.56 and as low as 0.89, with a median of 1.24, over the past year.

Finally, our model also underscores that UNFI has a P/CF ratio of 6.73. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.87. Over the past year, UNFI's P/CF has been as high as 12.23 and as low as 6.06, with a median of 8.85.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in United Natural Foods'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 UNFI is an impressive value stock right now.


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