Is China Life (LFC) 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.

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 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 China Life (LFC). LFC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Investors should also recognize that LFC has a P/B ratio of 1.11. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.32. Over the past 12 months, LFC's P/B has been as high as 1.40 and as low as 0.81, with a median of 1.13.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. LFC has a P/S ratio of 0.6. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.61.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in China Life's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, LFC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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China Life Insurance Company Limited (LFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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