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Should Value Investors Buy International Consolidated Airlines Group (ICAGY) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company to watch right now is International Consolidated Airlines Group (ICAGY - Free Report) . ICAGY is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.42 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 16.33. Over the past year, ICAGY's Forward P/E has been as high as 6.43 and as low as 3.80, with a median of 4.45.

ICAGY is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.66. 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. ICAGY's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.02. ICAGY's PEG has been as high as 1.07 and as low as 0.07, with a median of 0.84, all within the past year.

United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) may be another strong Transportation - Airline stock to add to your shortlist. UAL is a # 1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value grade of A.

United Airlines is trading at a forward earnings multiple of 8.16 at the moment, with a PEG ratio of 0.91. This compares to its industry's average P/E of 16.33 and average PEG ratio of 1.02.

Over the past year, UAL's P/E has been as high as 8.85, as low as 3.63, with a median of 4.57; its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.13, as low as 0.08, with a median of 0.84 during the same time period.

United Airlines sports a P/B ratio of 2.73 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 4.74. In the past 52 weeks, UAL's P/B has been as high as 2.95, as low as 1.18, with a median of 1.60.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in International Consolidated Airlines Group and United Airlines'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 ICAGY and UAL is an impressive value stock right now.


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