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.

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 use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is United Fire Group (UFCS). UFCS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.58 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 28.15. Over the past year, UFCS's Forward P/E has been as high as 22.37 and as low as 11.21, with a median of 16.02.

We should also highlight that UFCS has a P/B ratio of 0.83. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 1.60. Over the past year, UFCS's P/B has been as high as 1.02 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.76.

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 0.54. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.17.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that United Fire Group is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, UFCS sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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 Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research