Yahoo Finance Is American Equity Investment Life Holding (AEL) Stock Undervalued Right Now?
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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. 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 value investors might notice is American Equity Investment Life Holding (AEL). AEL is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.58 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 6.62. Over the past year, AEL's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.10 and as low as 6.46, with a median of 8.17.
Investors should also recognize that AEL has a P/B ratio of 1.15. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.44. Over the past year, AEL's P/B has been as high as 1.29 and as low as 0.63, with a median of 1.06.
Investors could also keep in mind Manulife Financial Corp (MFC), an Insurance - Life Insurance stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.
Manulife Financial Corp is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 7.60 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.76. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 6.62 and average PEG ratio of 0.63.
MFC's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.44 and as low as 5.98, with a median of 7.27. During the same time period, its PEG ratio has been as high as 0.84, as low as 0.60, with a median of 0.73.
Manulife Financial Corp also has a P/B ratio of 1.12 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.44. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 1.19, as low as 0.77, with a median of 0.88.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that American Equity Investment Life Holding and Manulife Financial Corp are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, AEL and MFC feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (AEL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
