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Is Covenant Transportation (CVTI) 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.

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 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.

One company value investors might notice is Covenant Transportation . CVTI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.19, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.60. Over the last 12 months, CVTI's Forward P/E has been as high as 31.88 and as low as 9.19, with a median of 15.27.

Another notable valuation metric for CVTI is its P/B ratio of 1.38. 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 2.30. Over the past 12 months, CVTI's P/B has been as high as 2.24 and as low as 1.38, with a median of 1.78.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CVTI has a P/S ratio of 0.53. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.95.

Finally, investors should note that CVTI has a P/CF ratio of 2.97. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 8.11. CVTI's P/CF has been as high as 6.39 and as low as 2.97, with a median of 4.02, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Covenant Transportation'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 CVTI is an impressive value stock right now.

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