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Should Value Investors Buy CF Industries (CF) Stock?

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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.

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 to watch right now is CF Industries (CF - Free Report) . CF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Investors will also notice that CF has a PEG ratio of 2.57. 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. CF's industry has an average PEG of 3.17 right now. CF's PEG has been as high as 2.67 and as low as 1.66, with a median of 2.24, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for CF is its P/B ratio of 1.93. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 2.14. Within the past 52 weeks, CF's P/B has been as high as 2.01 and as low as 1.57, with a median of 1.80.

Finally, our model also underscores that CF has a P/CF ratio of 8.06. 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 18.29. Within the past 12 months, CF's P/CF has been as high as 8.37 and as low as 4.79, with a median of 6.64.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that CF Industries is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, CF feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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