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Are Investors Undervaluing These Consumer Discretionary Stocks Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 stock to keep an eye on is Lincoln Educational Services (LINC - Free Report) . LINC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

We should also highlight that LINC has a P/B ratio of 1.55. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.94. Within the past 52 weeks, LINC's P/B has been as high as 2.30 and as low as 1.37, with a median of 1.86.

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. LINC has a P/S ratio of 0.61. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.95.

Another great Schools stock you could consider is Universal Technical Institute (UTI - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Universal Technical Institute is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 14.20 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.95. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 57.65 and average PEG ratio of 4.06.

UTI's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 21.02 and as low as 10.38, with a median of 13.94, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.40 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 0.93, all within the past year.

Additionally, Universal Technical Institute has a P/B ratio of 2.15 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 3.94. For UTI, this valuation metric has been as high as 2.48, as low as 1.62, with a median of 1.91 over the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Lincoln Educational Services and Universal Technical Institute'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 LINC and UTI is an impressive value stock right now.


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