Yahoo Finance Should Value Investors Buy United Microelectronics (UMC) Stock?
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.
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 stock to keep an eye on is United Microelectronics (UMC). UMC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.61. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.09. UMC's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.21 and as low as 5.15, with a median of 7.13, all within the past year.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is UMC's P/B ratio of 2.03. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 4.21. Within the past 52 weeks, UMC's P/B has been as high as 2.51 and as low as 1.29, with a median of 1.80.
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. UMC has a P/S ratio of 2.25. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.9.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in United Microelectronics'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 UMC is an impressive value stock right now.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
