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Are Investors Undervaluing American International Group (AIG) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of 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.

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.

American International Group (AIG - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. AIG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

AIG is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.05. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. AIG's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.63. AIG's PEG has been as high as 1.47 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.04, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that AIG has a P/B ratio of 1.18. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.08. Over the past 12 months, AIG's P/B has been as high as 1.18 and as low as 0.66, with a median of 0.87.

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. AIG has a P/S ratio of 0.81. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.85.

Another great Insurance - Multi line stock you could consider is Prudential Financial (PRU - Free Report) , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Shares of Prudential Financial currently holds a Forward P/E ratio of 8.27, and its PEG ratio is 0.99. In comparison, its industry sports average P/E and PEG ratios of 9.86 and 1.63.

Over the last 12 months, PRU's P/E has been as high as 10.48, as low as 7.31, with a median of 8.69, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.13, as low as 0.81, with a median of 0.96.

Prudential Financial also has a P/B ratio of 2.19 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.08. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 2.39, as low as 0.62, with a median of 1.20.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in American International Group and Prudential Financial strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, AIG and PRU look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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