Are Investors Undervaluing United Fire Group (UFCS) Right Now?

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.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 United Fire Group (UFCS). UFCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.16. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 26.23. UFCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.43 and as low as 9.98, with a median of 11.30, all within the past year. We should also highlight that UFCS has a P/B ratio of 0.94. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. UFCS's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.39. Over the past 12 months, UFCS's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.87.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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. UFCS has a P/S ratio of 0.87. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.2.Finally, investors should note that UFCS has a P/CF ratio of 7.83. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11.14. Within the past 12 months, UFCS's P/CF has been as high as 13.42 and as low as 6.53, with a median of 9.51.These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that United Fire Group is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, UFCS feels like a great value stock at the moment.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks