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Should Value Investors Buy Denny's (DENN) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. 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 Denny's (DENN - Free Report) . DENN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 11.95, which compares to its industry's average of 27.64. Over the past year, DENN's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.64 and as low as 8.75, with a median of 11.09.

Investors will also notice that DENN has a PEG ratio of 1.33. 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. DENN's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 2.07. DENN's PEG has been as high as 1.63 and as low as 0.97, with a median of 1.23, 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 prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. DENN has a P/S ratio of 0.76. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.8.

Finally, we should also recognize that DENN has a P/CF ratio of 11.09. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 24.10. Within the past 12 months, DENN's P/CF has been as high as 15.98 and as low as 8.71, with a median of 10.21.

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


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