Yahoo Finance Are Investors Undervaluing CNO Financial Group (CNO) 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
One company value investors might notice is CNO Financial Group (CNO). CNO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.90. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.27. Over the past year, CNO's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.12 and as low as 7.59, with a median of 9.15.
Investors should also recognize that CNO has a P/B ratio of 1.76. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 2.46. Over the past 12 months, CNO's P/B has been as high as 2.13 and as low as 0.54, with a median of 1.03.
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. CNO has a P/S ratio of 0.69. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.8.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that CNO has a P/CF ratio of 3.40. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 6.22. Over the past year, CNO's P/CF has been as high as 4.29 and as low as 2.36, with a median of 3.06.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in CNO Financial Group'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, CNO looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
