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Should Value Investors Buy AmerisourceBergen (ABC) 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.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is AmerisourceBergen . ABC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 11.43, which compares to its industry's average of 19.12. Over the past 52 weeks, ABC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.62 and as low as 10.10, with a median of 11.34.

Investors will also notice that ABC has a PEG ratio of 1.54. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. ABC's industry has an average PEG of 1.98 right now. ABC's PEG has been as high as 1.66 and as low as 1.26, with a median of 1.45, all within the past year.

Finally, we should also recognize that ABC has a P/CF ratio of 16.73. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 37.65. Within the past 12 months, ABC's P/CF has been as high as 17.96 and as low as 9.16, with a median of 12.09.

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

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