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Are Investors Undervaluing Deluxe (DLX) Right Now?

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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.

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 to watch right now is Deluxe (DLX - Free Report) . DLX 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 6.40 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.12. Over the past year, DLX's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.11 and as low as 4.90, with a median of 5.90.

Investors should also note that DLX holds a PEG ratio of 0.53. 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. DLX's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.02. Over the past 52 weeks, DLX's PEG has been as high as 0.59 and as low as 0.41, with a median of 0.49.

Investors should also recognize that DLX has a P/B ratio of 1.57. 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. DLX's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.27. Over the past year, DLX's P/B has been as high as 1.71 and as low as 1.17, with a median of 1.41.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. DLX has a P/S ratio of 0.44. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.46.

Finally, we should also recognize that DLX has a P/CF ratio of 3.78. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 10.27. DLX's P/CF has been as high as 4.13 and as low as 2.63, with a median of 3.48, all within the past year.

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


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