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Should Value Investors Buy These Finance Stocks?

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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.

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.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

Everest Re Group is a stock many investors are watching right now. RE is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that RE has a P/B ratio of 1.17. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.38. Over the past year, RE's P/B has been as high as 1.43 and as low as 0.98, with a median of 1.17.

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. RE has a P/S ratio of 0.97. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.01.

If you're looking for another solid Insurance - Property and Casualty value stock, take a look at Selective Insurance Group (SIGI - Free Report) . SIGI is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Selective Insurance Group is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 14.23 while its PEG ratio sits at 1.23. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 29.27 and average PEG ratio of 3.32.

SIGI's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 16.92 and as low as 12.59, with a median of 14.42, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.64 and as low as 0.94, with a median of 1.15, all within the past year.

Selective Insurance Group sports a P/B ratio of 1.80 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.38. In the past 52 weeks, SIGI's P/B has been as high as 1.91, as low as 1.60, with a median of 1.77.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Everest Re Group and Selective Insurance Group'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 RE and SIGI is an impressive value stock right now.


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