Are Investors Undervaluing Anthem (ANTM) 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 use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

One company to watch right now is Anthem (ANTM). ANTM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 13.30, while its industry has an average P/E of 17.30. Over the past 52 weeks, ANTM's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.35 and as low as 9.96, with a median of 13.39.

Investors will also notice that ANTM has a PEG ratio of 1.02. 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. ANTM's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.33. Over the past 52 weeks, ANTM's PEG has been as high as 1.21 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 1.03.

We should also highlight that ANTM has a P/B ratio of 2.56. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.87. Over the past 12 months, ANTM's P/B has been as high as 2.90 and as low as 1.79, with a median of 2.54.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Anthem is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, ANTM sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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