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Are Investors Undervaluing AZZ (AZZ) 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.

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 to watch right now is AZZ (AZZ - Free Report) . AZZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.35 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 20.99. AZZ's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.52 and as low as 7.24, with a median of 15.05, all within the past year.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. AZZ has a P/S ratio of 0.71. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.45.

Finally, our model also underscores that AZZ has a P/CF ratio of 6.02. 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. AZZ's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 22.81. Within the past 12 months, AZZ's P/CF has been as high as 12.45 and as low as 4.61, with a median of 10.04.

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


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