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Should Value Investors Buy Universal Health Services (UHS) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 value investors might notice is Universal Health Services (UHS - Free Report) . UHS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 12.33, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.34. UHS's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.12 and as low as 10.83, with a median of 12.63, all within the past year.

We also note that UHS holds a PEG ratio of 0.81. 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. UHS's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.27. Over the last 12 months, UHS's PEG has been as high as 1.86 and as low as 0.71, with a median of 1.18.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Universal Health Services's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that UHS is an impressive value stock right now.


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