Is Arch Coal (ARCH) Stock Undervalued Right Now?
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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
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 Arch Coal (ARCH). ARCH is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.06, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.55. Over the past year, ARCH's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.13 and as low as 6.24, with a median of 8.91.
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. ARCH has a P/S ratio of 0.74. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.71.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Arch Coal is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, ARCH sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Arch Coal Inc. (ARCH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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