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Is Associated British Foods (ASBFY) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore 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 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.

One company to watch right now is Associated British Foods (ASBFY - Free Report) . ASBFY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 13.18 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 14.77. Over the past year, ASBFY's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.72 and as low as 10.72, with a median of 13.76.

We also note that ASBFY holds a PEG ratio of 1.75. 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. ASBFY's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.79. Over the past 52 weeks, ASBFY's PEG has been as high as 4.24 and as low as 1.43, with a median of 2.10.

Another notable valuation metric for ASBFY is its P/B ratio of 1.62. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. ASBFY's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.74. Over the past year, ASBFY's P/B has been as high as 1.63 and as low as 0.97, with a median of 1.34.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Associated British Foods is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ASBFY feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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