Common sense and fundamental analysis underlie many of the principles of value investing. The margin of safety, which is the discount that a stock trades at compared to its intrinsic value, is one leading principle. Fundamental metrics, such as the price-to-earnings (PE) ratio, for example, illustrate company earnings in relation to their price. A value investor may invest in a company with a low PE ratio because it provides one barometer for determining if a company is undervalued or overvalued.
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