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Are Investors Undervaluing Alaska Air Group (ALK) 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, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) . ALK is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.12, while its industry has an average P/E of 9.96. Over the past 52 weeks, ALK's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.68 and as low as 8.23, with a median of 9.65.

Investors should also note that ALK holds a PEG ratio of 0.43. 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. ALK's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.70. Within the past year, ALK's PEG has been as high as 6.21 and as low as 0.33, with a median of 0.51.

Another notable valuation metric for ALK is its P/B ratio of 1.88. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 2.63. Over the past year, ALK's P/B has been as high as 2.19 and as low as 1.76, with a median of 2.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Alaska Air Group'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 ALK is an impressive value stock right now.


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