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Should Value Investors Buy CNO Financial Group (CNO) Stock?

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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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is CNO Financial Group (CNO - Free Report) . CNO is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Investors should also recognize that CNO has a P/B ratio of 1.35. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 2.72. Within the past 52 weeks, CNO's P/B has been as high as 2.11 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.36.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CNO has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.98.

Finally, investors should note that CNO has a P/CF ratio of 5.89. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. CNO's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.89. CNO's P/CF has been as high as 11.41 and as low as 3.29, with a median of 6.19, all within the past year.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that CNO Financial Group is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CNO sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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