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.
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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
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.
United Microelectronics (UMC)
is a stock many investors are watching right now. UMC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.13 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.01. Over the past 52 weeks, UMC’s Forward P/E has been as high as 17.01 and as low as 6.51, with a median of 11.70.
Investors will also notice that UMC has a PEG ratio of 0.26. 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. UMC’s PEG compares to its industry’s average PEG of 0.60. UMC’s PEG has been as high as 0.87 and as low as 0.26, with a median of 0.44, all within the past year.
Another notable valuation metric for UMC is its P/B ratio of 2.20. 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 solid versus its industry’s average P/B of 4.04. UMC’s P/B has been as high as 3.61 and as low as 1.96, with a median of 2.74, over the past year.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. UMC has a P/S ratio of 2.62. This compares to its industry’s average P/S of 2.69.
Finally, investors should note that UMC has a P/CF ratio of 5.58. 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. UMC’s P/CF compares to its industry’s average P/CF of 21.12. Over the past year, UMC’s P/CF has been as high as 10.44 and as low as 4.95, with a median of 8.12.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in United Microelectronics’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, UMC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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