Is Virtu Financial (VIRT) a Great Value Stock 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One company value investors might notice is Virtu Financial (VIRT). VIRT is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.99, which compares to its industry's average of 13.10. Over the past year, VIRT's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.14 and as low as 7.50, with a median of 8.57.
Investors should also recognize that VIRT has a P/B ratio of 2.51. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 4.15. Over the past 12 months, VIRT's P/B has been as high as 3.22 and as low as 2.29, with a median of 2.61.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. VIRT has a P/S ratio of 1.65. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.51.
Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Virtu Financial is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, VIRT sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.
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