Are Investors Undervaluing Crawford & Company (CRD.A) Right Now?
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 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 Crawford & Company (CRD.A). CRD.A is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.70, which compares to its industry's average of 17.77. Over the past 52 weeks, CRD.A's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.87 and as low as 5.98, with a median of 8.03.
We should also highlight that CRD.A has a P/B ratio of 3.56. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 3.65. Within the past 52 weeks, CRD.A's P/B has been as high as 3.59 and as low as 1.39, with a median of 1.95.
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. CRD.A has a P/S ratio of 0.36. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.93.
If you're looking for another solid Business - Services value stock, take a look at Healthcare Services Group (HCSG). HCSG is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.
Healthcare Services Group sports a P/B ratio of 2.42 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 3.65. In the past 52 weeks, HCSG's P/B has been as high as 3.30, as low as 2.05, with a median of 2.39.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Crawford & Company and Healthcare Services Group are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CRD.A and HCSG sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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Crawford & Company (CRD.A) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (HCSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
