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Should Value Investors Buy Sanderson Farms (SAFM) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One stock to keep an eye on is Sanderson Farms . SAFM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 5.83 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.48. Over the past 52 weeks, SAFM's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.28 and as low as 5.62, with a median of 10.35.

Investors will also notice that SAFM has a PEG ratio of 0.42. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. SAFM's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.24. Within the past year, SAFM's PEG has been as high as 0.42 and as low as 0.32, with a median of 0.39.

We should also highlight that SAFM has a P/B ratio of 1.95. 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. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.18. Within the past 52 weeks, SAFM's P/B has been as high as 2.87 and as low as 1.74, with a median of 2.27.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that SAFM has a P/CF ratio of 4.28. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.33. SAFM's P/CF has been as high as 12.73 and as low as 3.81, with a median of 6.56, all within the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Sanderson Farms's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, SAFM looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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