Are Investors Undervaluing U.S. Concrete (USCR) 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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is U.S. Concrete (USCR). USCR is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 12.65, which compares to its industry's average of 25.29. Over the last 12 months, USCR's Forward P/E has been as high as 62.48 and as low as 3.52, with a median of 13.64.

Another notable valuation metric for USCR is its P/B ratio of 1.19. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. USCR's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.59. Over the past year, USCR's P/B has been as high as 2.59 and as low as 0.44, with a median of 1.29.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. USCR has a P/S ratio of 0.32. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.76.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that U.S. Concrete is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, USCR sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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