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 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 stock to keep an eye on is Kohl's (KSS). KSS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.
Another notable valuation metric for KSS is its P/B ratio of 0.57. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 1.68. Over the past year, KSS's P/B has been as high as 0.87 and as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.69.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. KSS has a P/S ratio of 0.12. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.18.
Finally, we should also recognize that KSS has a P/CF ratio of 2.12. 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. KSS's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 6.53. Over the past 52 weeks, KSS's P/CF has been as high as 5.26 and as low as 2.01, with a median of 2.74.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Kohl's is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, KSS feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
