Zacks Equity Research Tue, March 2, 2021, 5:50 PM·2 min read
ITOCHU
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 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.
Itochu Corp. (ITOCY) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ITOCY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.
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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. ITOCY has a P/S ratio of 0.46. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.66.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that ITOCY has a P/CF ratio of 5.49. 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. ITOCY's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 14.79. ITOCY's P/CF has been as high as 5.60 and as low as 3.34, with a median of 4.45, all within the past year.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Itochu Corp.'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, ITOCY looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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