Are Investors Undervaluing Mercury General (MCY) 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.Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of 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.Mercury General (MCY) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MCY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 12.08. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 26.29. MCY's Forward P/E has been as high as 163.64 and as low as 6.83, with a median of 13.27, all within the past year.Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MCY has a P/S ratio of 0.82. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.25.Finally, investors should note that MCY has a P/CF ratio of 9.50. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.89. Over the past year, MCY's P/CF has been as high as 10.18 and as low as 4.83, with a median of 7.64.Another great Insurance - Property and Casualty stock you could consider is RenaissanceRe (RNR), which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.Shares of RenaissanceRe are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 7.47 and a PEG ratio of 1.72 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 26.29 and 4.55, respectively.Over the past year, RNR's P/E has been as high as 9.31, as low as 5.89, with a median of 7.87; its PEG ratio has been as high as 3.67, as low as 1.39, with a median of 1.84 during the same time period.RenaissanceRe sports a P/B ratio of 1.14 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.38. In the past 52 weeks, RNR's P/B has been as high as 1.49, as low as 1.09, with a median of 1.24.These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Mercury General and RenaissanceRe are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, MCY and RNR feels like a great value stock at the moment.Zacks' Research Chief Picks Stock Most Likely to "At Least Double"Our experts have revealed their Top 5 recommendations with money-doubling potential – and Director of Research Sheraz Mian believes one is superior to the others. Of course, all our picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier recommendations like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.See Our Top Stock to Double (Plus 4 Runners Up) >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Mercury General Corporation (MCY): Free Stock Analysis Report RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks