Are Investors Undervaluing Assurant (AIZ) Right Now?

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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.

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.

Assurant (AIZ) is a stock many investors are watching right now. AIZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Investors should also recognize that AIZ has a P/B ratio of 1.98. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.68. Over the past 12 months, AIZ's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.31, with a median of 1.63.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. AIZ has a P/S ratio of 0.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.98.

Investors could also keep in mind Scor (SCRYY), an Insurance - Multi line stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Furthermore, Scor holds a P/B ratio of 1 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.68. SCRYY's P/B has been as high as 1.17, as low as 0.70, with a median of 0.99 over the past 12 months.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Assurant and Scor's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that AIZ and SCRYY is an impressive value stock right now.

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Assurant, Inc. (AIZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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