Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Salisbury Bancorp (SAL) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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.

Salisbury Bancorp is a stock many investors are watching right now. SAL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Another notable valuation metric for SAL is its P/B ratio of 0.89. 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. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 0.92. SAL's P/B has been as high as 1.16 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.88, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. SAL has a P/S ratio of 2.01. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.28.

Finally, investors should note that SAL has a P/CF ratio of 7.40. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11.35. Over the past year, SAL's P/CF has been as high as 9.82 and as low as 5.21, with a median of 7.68.

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

Published in