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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.

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

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One stock to keep an eye on is Universal Health Services (UHS - Free Report) . UHS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 13.50, while its industry has an average P/E of 15.55. Over the last 12 months, UHS's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.12 and as low as 10.83, with a median of 12.70.

Investors will also notice that UHS has a PEG ratio of 0.71. 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 PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.15. Within the past year, UHS's PEG has been as high as 1.56 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 1.16.

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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