Is Lithia Motors (LAD) Stock 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 Lithia Motors (LAD). LAD is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

LAD is also sporting a PEG ratio of 1.48. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. LAD's industry has an average PEG of 1.52 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, LAD's PEG has been as high as 1.49 and as low as 0.45, with a median of 0.71.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. LAD has a P/S ratio of 0.23. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.24.

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

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