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Should Value Investors Buy Crane (CR) Stock?

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.

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.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

Crane (CR) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CR is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.26 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 23.05. CR's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.77 and as low as 5.90, with a median of 12.94, all within the past year.

Investors will also notice that CR has a PEG ratio of 3.88. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CR's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 4.32. Within the past year, CR's PEG has been as high as 4.28 and as low as 1.50, with a median of 3.92.

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. CR has a P/S ratio of 0.96. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.04.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that CR has a P/CF ratio of 13.14. 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. CR's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 30.84. Over the past 52 weeks, CR's P/CF has been as high as 15.74 and as low as 6.81, with a median of 12.36.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Crane's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that CR is an impressive value stock right now.


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