Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 4 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Professional Services industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Why Focus on Undervalued Professional Services Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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4 Undervalued Professional Services Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 4 undervalued stocks in the Professional Services industry for Wednesday, November 13, 2024. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Professional Services industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd. engages in the manufacture and sale of graphite anode material for EVs and other lithium-ion batteries. The company also operates a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and enterprise service platform business. In addition, it offers education consulting, training, tailored, information technology, business incubation, enterprise information technology integration, health, and agricultural technology services, as well as cultural and artistic exchanges and planning, and conference services. The company was formerly known as Global Internet of People, Inc. Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd. was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Zibo, the People’s Republic of China.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd. has a Value Score of 76, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd.’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.52 compared to the industry median at 1.53, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd.’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd.’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of 0.70%. Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

As one of the most common value metrics, the price-to-book ratio evaluates a company’s current market price relative to its book value. Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 3.32. This could make Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd. more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Skillsoft Corp.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Skillsoft Corp. provides content and platform and instructor-led training services in the United States and internationally. The company’s Content & Platform segment engages in the sale, marketing, and delivery of its content learning solutions in areas, such as leadership and business, technology and developer, and compliance comprising individualized coaching, as well as technical skill areas. This segment also offers Percipio, an AI-driven online learning platform that delivers a learning experience through SaaS solutions. Its Instructor-Led Training segment provides training solutions, including information technology and business skills for corporations and their employees by guiding its customers throughout their lifelong technology learning journey by offering relevant and up-to-date skills training through instructor-led and self-paced, vendor certified, and other proprietary offerings. The company markets and sells their offerings to businesses of many sizes, government agencies, educational institutions, and resellers. Skillsoft Corp. is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Skillsoft Corp. has a Value Score of 66, which is considered to be undervalued.

Skillsoft Corp.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Skillsoft Corp. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.32.

You can read more about Skillsoft Corp.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Steel Connect, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Steel Connect, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides supply chain services in the United States, Mainland China, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Czech Republic, and internationally. It offers product configuration and packaging, kitting, and assembly of components and parts into finished goods; and value-added processes, such as product testing, radio frequency identification tagging, product or service activation, language settings, personalization and engraving, multi-channel packaging, and packaging design services. The company provides fulfillment services comprising order management, pick, pack and ship, retail compliance, and demand planning services; and reverse logistics services that simplifies the returns process for retailers and manufacturers, as well as operates a cloud-based e-commerce platform. In addition, it offers warehousing and inventory management services; and software licenses, maintenance, and support services. Further, the company offers its supply chain services to customers in various markets, such as consumer electronics, telecommunications, computing and storage, software and content, consumer packaged goods, health and personal care products, retail and luxury, and connected devices. The company was formerly known as ModusLink Global Solutions, Inc. and changed its name to Steel Connect, Inc. in February 2018. Steel Connect, Inc. was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Steel Connect, Inc. has a Value Score of 92, which is considered to be undervalued.

Steel Connect, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 3.3 compared to the industry median at 28.1. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Steel Connect, Inc. more attractive for value investors.

Steel Connect, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Steel Connect, Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.32.

You can read more about Steel Connect, Inc.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

TrueBlue, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

TrueBlue, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides specialized workforce solutions in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Puerto Rico. It operates through three segments: PeopleReady, PeopleManagement, and PeopleScout. The company PeopleReady segment provides general, industrial, and skilled trade contingent staffing services for construction, transportation, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and renewable energy industries. The PeopleManagement segment offers contingent, on-site industrial staffing, and commercial driver services, which includes on-site management and recruitment for the contingent industrial workforce of manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution facilities; and recruitment and management of contingent and dedicated commercial drivers to the transportation and distribution industries under the Staff Management, SIMOS Insourcing Solutions, and Centerline Drivers brands. The company PeopleScout segment provides recruitment process outsourcing, talent advisory services, and managed service provider solutions including sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding services; operates Affinix, a technology platform for sourcing, screening, and delivering a permanent workforce to its clients; talent advisory services, such as employer branding, recruitment marketing, talent insights, diversity, equity and inclusion consulting, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition strategy consulting services; and contingent labor programs including vendor selection, performance management, compliance monitoring, and risk management. TrueBlue, Inc. was formerly known as Labor Ready, Inc. and changed its name to TrueBlue, Inc. in December 2007. The company was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

TrueBlue, Inc. has a Value Score of 76, which is considered to be undervalued.

TrueBlue, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make TrueBlue, Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 3.32.

You can read more about TrueBlue, Inc.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Professional Services Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Professional Services stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 4 Best Professional Services Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Sunrise New Energy Co., Ltd. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Skillsoft Corp. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Steel Connect, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• TrueBlue, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 4 undervalued stocks in the Professional Services industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Professional Services Stocks

Want to learn more about Professional Services stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 4 Undervalued Professional Services Stocks for Wednesday, November 13
• 3 Undervalued Professional Services Stocks for Tuesday, November 12
• 7 Undervalued Professional Services Stocks for Monday, November 11
• 7 Undervalued Professional Services Stocks for Friday, November 08

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.