Is Career Education (CECO) 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

Career Education (CECO) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CECO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.70 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 26.52. CECO's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.94 and as low as 10.25, with a median of 14.22, all within the past year.

CECO is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.85. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CECO's industry currently sports an average PEG of 1.31. Within the past year, CECO's PEG has been as high as 1.39 and as low as 0.82, with a median of 1.19.

Another notable valuation metric for CECO is its P/B ratio of 2.94. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 5.85. CECO's P/B has been as high as 4.10 and as low as 2.24, with a median of 3.23, over the past year.

Finally, investors should note that CECO has a P/CF ratio of 17.99. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 27.92. Within the past 12 months, CECO's P/CF has been as high as 164.16 and as low as -253.36, with a median of 19.55.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Career Education'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 CECO is an impressive value stock right now.