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.
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 company value investors might notice is Barrett Business Services (BBSI). BBSI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 18.33, while its industry has an average P/E of 23.25. Over the past 52 weeks, BBSI's Forward P/E has been as high as 21.77 and as low as 14.83, with a median of 17.32.
BBSI is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.31. 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. BBSI's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.89. Over the last 12 months, BBSI's PEG has been as high as 1.45 and as low as 1.06, with a median of 1.20.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BBSI's P/B ratio of 4.76. 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 9.25. Within the past 52 weeks, BBSI's P/B has been as high as 5.34 and as low as 4.12, with a median of 4.69.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Barrett Business Services'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 BBSI is an impressive value stock right now.
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Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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