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Should Value Investors Buy Financial Institutions (FISI) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 company to watch right now is Financial Institutions (FISI - Free Report) . FISI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 5.22. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 7.88. Over the past 52 weeks, FISI's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.57 and as low as 4.90, with a median of 6.01.

Another notable valuation metric for FISI is its P/B ratio of 0.64. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.11. Over the past 12 months, FISI's P/B has been as high as 1.08 and as low as 0.57, with a median of 0.73.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. FISI has a P/S ratio of 0.9. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.72.

Finally, our model also underscores that FISI has a P/CF ratio of 4.03. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. FISI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 9.30. Within the past 12 months, FISI's P/CF has been as high as 5.68 and as low as 3.51, with a median of 4.43.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Financial Institutions is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, FISI feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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