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FCB or STBZ: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Banks - Southeast stocks have likely encountered both FCB Financial and State Bank Financial . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

FCB Financial has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while State Bank Financial has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that FCB is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

FCB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.93, while STBZ has a forward P/E of 14.84. We also note that FCB has a PEG ratio of 0.80. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. STBZ currently has a PEG ratio of 1.10.

Another notable valuation metric for FCB is its P/B ratio of 1.80. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, STBZ has a P/B of 1.92.

Based on these metrics and many more, FCB holds a Value grade of B, while STBZ has a Value grade of C.

FCB sticks out from STBZ in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that FCB is the better option right now.