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Should Value Investors Buy Barclays (BCS) 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, 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 company to watch right now is Barclays (BCS - Free Report) . BCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 4.55. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 6.89. Over the last 12 months, BCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 5.53 and as low as 3.79, with a median of 4.46.

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. BCS has a P/S ratio of 0.98. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.22.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Barclays'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, BCS looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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