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4 Reasons to Buy Eastern Virginia (EVBS) Stock Right Now

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Eastern Virginia Bankshares, Inc. , with its solid fundamentals and diverse business offerings is a good investment option now. Also, its merger with Southern National is supposed to be accretive to its financials.

Further, the recent interest rate hikes are anticipated to bring stability to the top line. This, in turn, is likely to attract long-term investors.

Eastern Virginia currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) backed by a solid upward earnings estimate revision of 11.1%, over the last 60 days. Also, the company's shares increased 30.4% in the past six months, outperforming the 27.0% gain for the Zacks categorized Banks - Southeast industry.
 


What Makes the Company an Attractive Pick?

Earnings Per Share Strength: Over the past three to five years, Eastern Virginia witnessed earnings per share (EPS) growth of 13.6% compared with 10.2% of the industry. Also, the company’s long-term (three to five years) estimated EPS growth rate of 13.6% promises rewards for investors over the long run.

Strong Leverage: Eastern Virginia’s debt/equity ratio is 0.24 compared with the industry average of 0.31. This indicates a lower debt burden relative to the industry and highlights its financial stability.

Valuation Looks Reasonable: Eastern Virginia has Value Score of 'B'. The Value Style Score condenses all valuation metrics into one actionable score which helps investors steer clear of 'value traps' and identify stocks that are truly trading at a discount. Our research shows that stocks with Style Scores of 'A' or 'B,' when combined with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or #2, offer the best upside potential.

Stock Seems Undervalued: Eastern Virginia has a P/B ratio of 1.11x compared with the broader industry’s average of 1.44x. Based on this ratio, the stock seems undervalued.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other stocks worth considering from the same space include BancFirst Corporation (BANF - Free Report) , Southside Bancshares, Inc. (SBSI - Free Report) and Texas Capital Bancshares, Inc. (TCBI - Free Report) .  All these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2.  You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

BancFirst witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of nearly 0.5% for the current year in the past 30 days. Also, its share price surged 58.4% in the last one year.

Southside’s earnings estimates were revised upward by 3.0% for the current year, in the past 60 days. Further, in the last one year, the stock gained 30.5%.

Texas Capital’s current-year earnings estimates witnessed a nearly 1% upward revision over the last 60 days. Its shares increased 128.2%, over the last one year.

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