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Is CNO Financial Group (CNO) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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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.

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 use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CNO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.09, while its industry has an average P/E of 10.82. Over the past year, CNO's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.46 and as low as 9.33, with a median of 10.49.

We should also highlight that CNO has a P/B ratio of 0.58. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 1.69. Over the past 12 months, CNO's P/B has been as high as 0.75 and as low as 0.52, with a median of 0.58.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. CNO has a P/S ratio of 0.73. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that CNO Financial Group is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, CNO feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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