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Should Value Investors Buy Evans Bancorp (EVBN) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Evans Bancorp (EVBN - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. EVBN is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 7.66, which compares to its industry's average of 10.05. EVBN's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.16 and as low as 6.11, with a median of 7.76, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is EVBN's P/B ratio of 0.71. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 0.92. Over the past year, EVBN's P/B has been as high as 1.41 and as low as 0.67, with a median of 1.15.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. EVBN has a P/S ratio of 1.51. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.87.

Finally, investors should note that EVBN has a P/CF ratio of 10.20. 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. EVBN's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 11.35. Within the past 12 months, EVBN's P/CF has been as high as 10.60 and as low as 5.42, with a median of 9.90.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that Evans Bancorp is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, EVBN sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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