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Are Investors Undervaluing Harte Hanks (HHS) 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.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 value investors might notice is Harte Hanks (HHS - Free Report) . HHS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.16, which compares to its industry's average of 10.12. HHS's Forward P/E has been as high as 40.77 and as low as 4.24, with a median of 8.62, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that HHS has a PEG ratio of 0.68. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. HHS's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.40. Over the past 52 weeks, HHS's PEG has been as high as 3.40 and as low as 0.35, with a median of 0.72.

Investors should also recognize that HHS has a P/B ratio of 2.68. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 5.23. HHS's P/B has been as high as 2.87 and as low as 1.80, with a median of 2.44, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. HHS has a P/S ratio of 0.28. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.48.

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


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