Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is DaVita HealthCare (DVA) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One company value investors might notice is DaVita HealthCare (DVA - Free Report) . DVA is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 12.58, while its industry has an average P/E of 19.28. Over the last 12 months, DVA's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.61 and as low as 10.51, with a median of 12.71.

DVA is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.69. 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. DVA's industry has an average PEG of 1.87 right now. Over the last 12 months, DVA's PEG has been as high as 1.59 and as low as 0.52, 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. DVA has a P/S ratio of 1.04. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.3.

Finally, our model also underscores that DVA has a P/CF ratio of 8.62. 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. DVA's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 26.35. Within the past 12 months, DVA's P/CF has been as high as 11.04 and as low as 5.46, with a median of 7.25.

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


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


DaVita Inc. (DVA) - free report >>

Published in