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Should Value Investors Buy Ingles (IMKTA) Stock?

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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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company value investors might notice is Ingles (IMKTA - Free Report) . IMKTA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.75, which compares to its industry's average of 20.90. IMKTA's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.24 and as low as 7.79, with a median of 9.11, all within the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. IMKTA has a P/S ratio of 0.17. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.33.

Finally, investors should note that IMKTA has a P/CF ratio of 3.51. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.51. Over the past 52 weeks, IMKTA's P/CF has been as high as 3.52 and as low as 2.50, with a median of 3.16.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Ingles'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, IMKTA looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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