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Is Carriage Services (CSV) a Great Value Stock 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.

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.

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.

Carriage Services (CSV - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CSV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 14.69 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.63. Over the last 12 months, CSV's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.93 and as low as 10.45, with a median of 13.56.

We also note that CSV holds a PEG ratio of 0.98. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CSV's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.35. CSV's PEG has been as high as 1.06 and as low as 0.70, with a median of 0.90, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that CSV has a P/B ratio of 1.78. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.66. Within the past 52 weeks, CSV's P/B has been as high as 1.80 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.54.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Carriage Services is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CSV sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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