The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.

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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Healthcare Services Group (HCSG) is a stock many investors are watching right now. HCSG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 12.05 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 21.80. Over the past year, HCSG's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.66 and as low as 11.89, with a median of 13.93.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. HCSG has a P/S ratio of 0.42. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.94.

Finally, we should also recognize that HCSG has a P/CF ratio of 13. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. HCSG's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.16. Over the past 52 weeks, HCSG's P/CF has been as high as 18.23 and as low as 10.66, with a median of 14.20.

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

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Healthcare Services Group, Inc. (HCSG) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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

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