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Is Arch Capital Group (ACGL) 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.

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

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

Arch Capital Group (ACGL - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ACGL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.43 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 26.68. Over the past year, ACGL's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.71 and as low as 8.99, with a median of 10.21.

Investors will also notice that ACGL has a PEG ratio of 0.94. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. ACGL's industry has an average PEG of 2.20 right now. ACGL's PEG has been as high as 1.67 and as low as 0.90, with a median of 1.02, all within the past year.

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

Axis Capital Holdings is trading at a forward earnings multiple of 8.56 at the moment, with a PEG ratio of 1.71. This compares to its industry's average P/E of 26.68 and average PEG ratio of 2.20.

AXS's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.10 and as low as 8.29, with a median of 9.93. During the same time period, its PEG ratio has been as high as 2.62, as low as 1.66, with a median of 1.99.

Axis Capital Holdings sports a P/B ratio of 1.05 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.20. In the past 52 weeks, AXS's P/B has been as high as 1.13, as low as 0.79, with a median of 0.94.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Arch Capital Group and Axis Capital Holdings strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ACGL and AXS look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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