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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.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 Ingles (IMKTA - Free Report) . IMKTA is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.47. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.38. IMKTA's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.47 and as low as 7.79, with a median of 9.07, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that IMKTA has a P/B ratio of 1.42. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 3.57. Over the past 12 months, IMKTA's P/B has been as high as 1.42 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. IMKTA has a P/S ratio of 0.22. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.26.

Finally, investors should note that IMKTA has a P/CF ratio of 4.69. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. IMKTA's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.56. IMKTA's P/CF has been as high as 4.69 and as low as 2.50, with a median of 3.25, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Ingles'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 IMKTA is an impressive value stock right now.


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