Are Investors Undervaluing Atlanticus (ATLC) 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

Atlanticus (ATLC) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ATLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.89 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.07. Over the last 12 months, ATLC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.46 and as low as 6.34, with a median of 8.26.

We should also highlight that ATLC has a P/B ratio of 1.9. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. ATLC's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 3.09. Within the past 52 weeks, ATLC's P/B has been as high as 2.08 and as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.54.

Finally, our model also underscores that ATLC has a P/CF ratio of 9.19. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. ATLC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.77. Over the past year, ATLC's P/CF has been as high as 9.96 and as low as 4.95, with a median of 6.94.

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

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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