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Are Investors Undervaluing Chemung Financial (CHMG) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Chemung Financial (CHMG - Free Report) . CHMG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 10.16. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.19. Over the last 12 months, CHMG's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.17 and as low as 6.77, with a median of 10.53.

Another notable valuation metric for CHMG is its P/B ratio of 0.85. 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 0.91. Over the past 12 months, CHMG's P/B has been as high as 1.19 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.76.

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. CHMG has a P/S ratio of 1.87. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.28.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that CHMG has a P/CF ratio of 7.07. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11. Within the past 12 months, CHMG's P/CF has been as high as 9.83 and as low as 5.38, with a median of 7.07.

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


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