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FCCY vs. FCF: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Banks - Northeast stocks are likely familiar with 1st Constitution Bancorp and First Commonwealth Financial (FCF - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

1st Constitution Bancorp and First Commonwealth Financial are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that FCCY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

FCCY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.58, while FCF has a forward P/E of 12.02. We also note that FCCY has a PEG ratio of 1.45. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. FCF currently has a PEG ratio of 1.50.

Another notable valuation metric for FCCY is its P/B ratio of 1.20. 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, FCF has a P/B of 1.29.

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

FCCY stands above FCF thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that FCCY is the superior value option right now.


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