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Should Value Investors Buy Afya (AFYA) 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.

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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 Afya (AFYA - Free Report) . AFYA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.56 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.49. AFYA's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.39 and as low as 7.81, with a median of 9.43, all within the past year.

AFYA is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.51. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AFYA's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 0.71. Within the past year, AFYA's PEG has been as high as 0.60 and as low as 0.25, with a median of 0.35.

Investors should also recognize that AFYA has a P/B ratio of 2.11. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 3.41. Over the past year, AFYA's P/B has been as high as 2.42 and as low as 1.75, with a median of 2.10.

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

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