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Is Career Education (CECO) 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is Career Education (CECO - Free Report) . CECO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 11.15, while its industry has an average P/E of 27.97. Over the last 12 months, CECO's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.94 and as low as 10.25, with a median of 14.22.

CECO is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.74. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. CECO's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.39. Within the past year, CECO's PEG has been as high as 1.33 and as low as 0.71, with a median of 1.14.

Investors should also recognize that CECO has a P/B ratio of 2.74. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 6.26. CECO's P/B has been as high as 4.10 and as low as 2.24, with a median of 3.23, over the past year.

Finally, investors should note that CECO has a P/CF ratio of 16.73. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 30.92. Over the past 52 weeks, CECO's P/CF has been as high as 164.16 and as low as 12.66, with a median of 18.54.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Career Education'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 CECO is an impressive value stock right now.


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