Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy UFP Industries (UFPI) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 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 value investors might notice is UFP Industries (UFPI - Free Report) . UFPI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 15.56, which compares to its industry's average of 23.55. Over the last 12 months, UFPI's Forward P/E has been as high as 18.85 and as low as 13.68, with a median of 15.51.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is UFPI's P/B ratio of 2.21. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.99. Over the past 12 months, UFPI's P/B has been as high as 2.64 and as low as 2.07, with a median of 2.34.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. UFPI has a P/S ratio of 1.05. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.3.

Finally, our model also underscores that UFPI has a P/CF ratio of 11.89. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. UFPI's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 22.95. Over the past year, UFPI's P/CF has been as high as 14.20 and as low as 10.42, with a median of 11.64.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in UFP Industries's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, UFPI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


UFP Industries, Inc. (UFPI) - free report >>

Published in