Are Investors Undervaluing Willdan Group (WLDN) 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, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
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 Willdan Group (WLDN). WLDN is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 13.60 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 19.33. Over the past 52 weeks, WLDN's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.46 and as low as 11.37, with a median of 14.63.
Another notable valuation metric for WLDN is its P/B ratio of 1.44. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 4.11. Over the past 12 months, WLDN's P/B has been as high as 1.77 and as low as 1.03, with a median of 1.33.
Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. WLDN has a P/S ratio of 0.58. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.97.
Finally, our model also underscores that WLDN has a P/CF ratio of 13.39. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. WLDN's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 22.12. Over the past 52 weeks, WLDN's P/CF has been as high as 23.08 and as low as 11.35, with a median of 14.49.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Willdan Group is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, WLDN feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Willdan Group, Inc. (WLDN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
