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Is Spartan Stores (SPTN) Stock Undervalued 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.

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 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 Spartan Stores (SPTN). SPTN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.54 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 15.46. Over the last 12 months, SPTN's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.89 and as low as 7.54, with a median of 10.04.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SPTN's P/B ratio of 0.83. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.25. Over the past year, SPTN's P/B has been as high as 1.17 and as low as 0.49, with a median of 0.75.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that SPTN has a P/CF ratio of 4.18. 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. SPTN's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.44. Within the past 12 months, SPTN's P/CF has been as high as 7.59 and as low as 3.53, with a median of 5.49.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Spartan Stores is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, SPTN feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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