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Is Manulife Financial (MFC) 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.

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.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Manulife Financial (MFC - Free Report) . MFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.24, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.62. Over the past year, MFC's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.29 and as low as 6.16, with a median of 7.68.

We also note that MFC holds a PEG ratio of 0.82. 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. MFC's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.83. MFC's PEG has been as high as 0.83 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.77, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for MFC is its P/B ratio of 1.09. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.74. Over the past 12 months, MFC's P/B has been as high as 1.15 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.02.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. MFC has a P/S ratio of 0.67. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.78.

Finally, our model also underscores that MFC has a P/CF ratio of 14.67. 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. MFC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 15.30. MFC's P/CF has been as high as 14.75 and as low as 6.02, with a median of 6.90, all within the past year.

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


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