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Is Central Pacific Financial (CPF) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Central Pacific Financial (CPF - Free Report) . CPF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 11.99 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 13.26. Over the last 12 months, CPF's Forward P/E has been as high as 17.36 and as low as 8.27, with a median of 14.18.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CPF's P/B ratio of 0.73. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.16. Over the past year, CPF's P/B has been as high as 1.68 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 1.54.

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. CPF has a P/S ratio of 1.59. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.16.

Finally, investors should note that CPF has a P/CF ratio of 6.13. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. CPF's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 13.83. Over the past 52 weeks, CPF's P/CF has been as high as 12.29 and as low as 5.25, with a median of 10.53.

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


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