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Is Arch Coal (ARCH) a Great Value Stock 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.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 company value investors might notice is Arch Coal (ARCH - Free Report) . ARCH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.22, while its industry has an average P/E of 9.32. Over the last 12 months, ARCH's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.75 and as low as 5.53, with a median of 8.61.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ARCH's P/B ratio of 2.36. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.88. Over the past 12 months, ARCH's P/B has been as high as 3.32 and as low as 2.16, with a median of 2.57.

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. ARCH has a P/S ratio of 0.69. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.6.

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


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