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Are Investors Undervaluing United Microelectronics (UMC) 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.

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.

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 company to watch right now is United Microelectronics (UMC). UMC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.75, while its industry has an average P/E of 18.25. Over the past 52 weeks, UMC's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.21 and as low as 5.15, with a median of 7.13.

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Investors should also recognize that UMC has a P/B ratio of 1.92. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 5.15. Within the past 52 weeks, UMC's P/B has been as high as 2.50 and as low as 1.29, with a median of 1.77.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. UMC has a P/S ratio of 2.33. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.96.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in United Microelectronics'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 UMC is an impressive value stock right now.

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United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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