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Is United Natural Foods (UNFI) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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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.

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 value investors might notice is United Natural Foods (UNFI - Free Report) . UNFI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 5.91 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.69. Over the past 52 weeks, UNFI's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.97 and as low as 5.91, with a median of 12.79.

We also note that UNFI holds a PEG ratio of 0.82. 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 PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.89. Within the past year, UNFI's PEG has been as high as 3.76 and as low as 0.82, with a median of 1.56.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that UNFI has a P/CF ratio of 4.06. 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. UNFI's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 9.86. Within the past 12 months, UNFI's P/CF has been as high as 12.23 and as low as 4.06, with a median of 8.47.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in United Natural Foods's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, UNFI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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