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Should Value Investors Buy Ericsson (ERIC) Stock?

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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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 value investors might notice is Ericsson (ERIC - Free Report) . ERIC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 15.98, while its industry has an average P/E of 22.79. Over the past year, ERIC's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.75 and as low as 11.49, with a median of 16.89.

Another notable valuation metric for ERIC is its P/B ratio of 3.57. 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 6.90. Over the past 12 months, ERIC's P/B has been as high as 3.80 and as low as 2.37, with a median of 3.41.

Finally, our model also underscores that ERIC has a P/CF ratio of 25.83. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 54.44. ERIC's P/CF has been as high as 64.04 and as low as -16,579.61, with a median of 24.56, all within the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Ericsson's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ERIC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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