Should Value Investors Buy United Fire Group (UFCS) 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.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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.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 United Fire Group (UFCS). UFCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 11.77, which compares to its industry's average of 30.53. UFCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 20.43 and as low as 10.38, with a median of 14.96, all within the past year.Another notable valuation metric for UFCS is its P/B ratio of 0.94. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.64. UFCS's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.76, over the past year.Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. UFCS has a P/S ratio of 0.58. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.24.These are just a handful of the figures considered in United Fire Group'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 UFCS is an impressive value stock right now.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.3% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>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 United Fire Group, Inc (UFCS): 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