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Are Investors Undervaluing DaVita (DVA) Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

DaVita (DVA - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. DVA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 14.36 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 21.11. Over the past year, DVA's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.26 and as low as 9.57, with a median of 13.84.

We also note that DVA holds a PEG ratio of 0.82. 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. DVA's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.81. DVA's PEG has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.56, with a median of 0.85, all within the past year.

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. DVA has a P/S ratio of 1.08. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.58.

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


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