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Should Value Investors Buy CRA International (CRAI) 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.

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 CRA International (CRAI - Free Report) . CRAI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 18.10. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 21.23. Over the past year, CRAI's Forward P/E has been as high as 26.52 and as low as 15.73, with a median of 23.56.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CRAI's P/B ratio of 2.02. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. CRAI's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 4.96. Within the past 52 weeks, CRAI's P/B has been as high as 2.38 and as low as 1.64, with a median of 2.05.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CRAI has a P/S ratio of 0.95. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.38.

Finally, our model also underscores that CRAI has a P/CF ratio of 12.74. 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. CRAI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 15.16. CRAI's P/CF has been as high as 26.80 and as low as 10.52, with a median of 21.40, all within the past year.

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


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