Should Value Investors Buy FS Bancorp (FSBW) Stock?

FSBW

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 company value investors might notice is FS Bancorp (FSBW - Free Report) . FSBW is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 7.94, which compares to its industry's average of 9.46. Over the last 12 months, FSBW's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.78 and as low as 6.99, with a median of 8.38.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is FSBW's P/B ratio of 1.19. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. FSBW's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.46. FSBW's P/B has been as high as 1.21 and as low as 0.95, with a median of 1.04, over the past year.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. FSBW has a P/S ratio of 2.02. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.78.

Finally, investors should note that FSBW has a P/CF ratio of 5.88. 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. FSBW's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.82. Over the past year, FSBW's P/CF has been as high as 5.94 and as low as 4.66, with a median of 5.19.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in FS Bancorp's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, FSBW looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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