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Should Value Investors Buy Carriage Services (CSV) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 company to watch right now is Carriage Services (CSV - Free Report) . CSV is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.06. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 19.79. Over the last 12 months, CSV's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.37 and as low as 9.75, with a median of 11.26.

CSV is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.94. 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. CSV's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.93. CSV's PEG has been as high as 0.96 and as low as 0.65, with a median of 0.75, all within the past year.

Investors should also recognize that CSV has a P/B ratio of 3.01. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 6.51. Within the past 52 weeks, CSV's P/B has been as high as 3.07 and as low as 1.97, with a median of 2.27.

Finally, investors should note that CSV has a P/CF ratio of 10.19. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. CSV's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.51. Over the past 52 weeks, CSV's P/CF has been as high as 10.38 and as low as 6.31, with a median of 7.37.

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


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