Are These Finance Stocks Undervalued 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, 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 to watch right now is Axa (AXAHY). AXAHY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.94 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.48. Over the past year, AXAHY's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.49 and as low as 6.47, with a median of 8.09.

We also note that AXAHY holds a PEG ratio of 0.41. 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. AXAHY's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.12. Over the past 52 weeks, AXAHY's PEG has been as high as 2.29 and as low as 0.35, with a median of 0.40.

We should also highlight that AXAHY has a P/B ratio of 0.86. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.51. Over the past year, AXAHY's P/B has been as high as 0.89 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.77.

The Hartford Financial Services Group (HIG) may be another strong Insurance - Multi line stock to add to your shortlist. HIG is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

Shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 9.89 and a PEG ratio of 1.41 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 10.48 and 1.12, respectively.

Over the last 12 months, HIG's P/E has been as high as 13.31, as low as 8.73, with a median of 10.57, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.90, as low as 1.25, with a median of 1.51.

The Hartford Financial Services Group also has a P/B ratio of 1.36 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.51. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 1.44, as low as 0.94, with a median of 1.33.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Axa and The Hartford Financial Services Group's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that AXAHY and HIG is an impressive value stock right now.

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