Are Investors Undervaluing Sysco (SYY) 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.
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 to watch right now is Sysco (SYY). SYY is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 16.63, while its industry has an average P/E of 16.78. SYY's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.81 and as low as 14.22, with a median of 16.47, all within the past year.
We also note that SYY holds a PEG ratio of 1.45. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. SYY's industry has an average PEG of 2.05 right now. Within the past year, SYY's PEG has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.14, with a median of 1.31.
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. SYY has a P/S ratio of 0.5. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.85.
Finally, investors should note that SYY has a P/CF ratio of 14.03. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 16.21. Over the past 52 weeks, SYY's P/CF has been as high as 17.69 and as low as 11.63, with a median of 14.36.
Another great Food - Miscellaneous stock you could consider is US Foods (USFD), which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.
Shares of US Foods are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 14.36 and a PEG ratio of 0.68 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 16.78 and 2.05, respectively.
Over the past year, USFD's P/E has been as high as 17.27, as low as 11.55, with a median of 13.79; its PEG ratio has been as high as 0.82, as low as 0.56, with a median of 1.31 during the same time period.
Additionally, US Foods has a P/B ratio of 2.45 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.19. For USFD, this valuation metric has been as high as 2.45, as low as 1.89, with a median of 2.13 over the past year.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Sysco and US Foods are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SYY and USFD feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Sysco Corporation (SYY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
US Foods Holding Corp. (USFD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
