Should Value Investors Buy CNO Financial Group (CNO) 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.

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 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 stock to keep an eye on is CNO Financial Group (CNO Quick QuoteCNO – Free Report) . CNO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

Another notable valuation metric for CNO is its P/B ratio of 1.43. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock’s market value with 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 2.30. Over the past 12 months, CNO’s P/B has been as high as 1.56 and as low as 1.15, with a median of 1.36.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock’s price with the company’s sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CNO has a P/S ratio of 0.85. This compares to its industry’s average P/S of 0.97.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in CNO Financial 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 CNO is an impressive value stock right now.