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Is TreeHouse Foods (THS) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

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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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 company to watch right now is TreeHouse Foods (THS - Free Report) . THS is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

We should also highlight that THS has a P/B ratio of 1.33. 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 2.12. Over the past 12 months, THS's P/B has been as high as 1.40 and as low as 0.93, with a median of 1.17.

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. THS has a P/S ratio of 0.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.28.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that THS has a P/CF ratio of 12.42. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 16.63. THS's P/CF has been as high as 12.62 and as low as 7.22, with a median of 9.23, all within the past year.

If you're looking for another solid Food - Miscellaneous value stock, take a look at US Foods (USFD - Free Report) . USFD is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

Shares of US Foods currently holds a Forward P/E ratio of 12.79, and its PEG ratio is 0.65. In comparison, its industry sports average P/E and PEG ratios of 17.79 and 2.38.

Over the past year, USFD's P/E has been as high as 22.96, as low as 11.33, with a median of 14.39; its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.15, as low as 0.57, with a median of 3.48 during the same time period.

Furthermore, US Foods holds a P/B ratio of 1.91 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.12. USFD's P/B has been as high as 2.35, as low as 1.66, with a median of 2.11 over the past 12 months.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in TreeHouse Foods and US Foods'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 THS and USFD is an impressive value stock right now.


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