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Should Value Investors Buy Allstate (ALL) 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 value investors might notice is Allstate (ALL - Free Report) . ALL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.65, which compares to its industry's average of 27.30. Over the last 12 months, ALL's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.14 and as low as 7.06, with a median of 10.73.

Investors should also note that ALL holds a PEG ratio of 1.29. 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. ALL's industry has an average PEG of 3.32 right now. Over the last 12 months, ALL's PEG has been as high as 1.46 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 1.29.

Another notable valuation metric for ALL is its P/B ratio of 1.37. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 1.42. Over the past year, ALL's P/B has been as high as 1.71 and as low as 1, with a median of 1.52.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that ALL has a P/CF ratio of 5.99. 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. ALL's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 15.10. Over the past year, ALL's P/CF has been as high as 11.93 and as low as 4.27, with a median of 11.

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


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