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Is Rio Tinto (RIO) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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.

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.

Rio Tinto (RIO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. RIO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.01. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.91. Over the last 12 months, RIO's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.96 and as low as 5.78, with a median of 8.78.

Another notable valuation metric for RIO is its P/B ratio of 2.12. 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. RIO's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.36. Within the past 52 weeks, RIO's P/B has been as high as 2.21 and as low as 1.22, with a median of 1.78.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Rio Tinto'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 RIO is an impressive value stock right now.


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