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Are Investors Undervaluing US Foods (USFD) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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.

US Foods (USFD - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. USFD is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A.

We also note that USFD holds a PEG ratio of 0.87. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. USFD's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.33. Over the last 12 months, USFD's PEG has been as high as 0.89 and as low as 0.64, with a median of 0.77.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. USFD has a P/S ratio of 0.4. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.88.

Finally, investors should note that USFD has a P/CF ratio of 15.81. 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. USFD's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.37. Over the past 52 weeks, USFD's P/CF has been as high as 16.44 and as low as 12.14, with a median of 14.06.

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


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