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Are Investors Undervaluing Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN) 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.

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 Cross Country Healthcare (CCRN - Free Report) . CCRN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.91. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.50. Over the past year, CCRN's Forward P/E has been as high as 29.99 and as low as 3.93, with a median of 8.31.

CCRN is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.09. 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. CCRN's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.57. Within the past year, CCRN's PEG has been as high as 3.02 and as low as 0.45, with a median of 0.81.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CCRN has a P/S ratio of 0.43. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.44.

Finally, investors should note that CCRN has a P/CF ratio of 6.10. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. CCRN's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 7.89. Over the past 52 weeks, CCRN's P/CF has been as high as 16.34 and as low as 3.23, with a median of 4.89.

Investors could also keep in mind DLH (DLHC - Free Report) , an Staffing Firms stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Furthermore, DLH holds a P/B ratio of 1.92 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.49. DLHC's P/B has been as high as 4.06, as low as 1.78, with a median of 2.58 over the past 12 months.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Cross Country Healthcare and DLH are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CCRN and DLHC sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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