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Should Value Investors Buy These Consumer Discretionary Stocks?

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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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

Central Garden & Pet (CENT - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CENT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CENT's P/B ratio of 2.11. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 5.81. Over the past 12 months, CENT's P/B has been as high as 2.98 and as low as 1.96, with a median of 2.30.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CENT has a P/S ratio of 0.74. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.85.

Investors could also keep in mind Central Garden & Pet (CENTA - Free Report) , an Consumer Products - Discretionary stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Furthermore, Central Garden & Pet holds a P/B ratio of 1.94 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 5.81. CENTA's P/B has been as high as 2.67, as low as 1.77, with a median of 2.07 over the past 12 months.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Central Garden & Pet and Central Garden & Pet are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CENT and CENTA sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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