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ACBI vs. SASR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Northeast sector have probably already heard of Atlantic Capital Bancshares and Sandy Spring Bancorp (SASR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Both Atlantic Capital Bancshares and Sandy Spring Bancorp have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

ACBI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.74, while SASR has a forward P/E of 17.44. We also note that ACBI has a PEG ratio of 1.59. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. SASR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.84.

Another notable valuation metric for ACBI is its P/B ratio of 1.02. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, SASR has a P/B of 1.08.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to ACBI's Value grade of B and SASR's Value grade of C.

Both ACBI and SASR are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that ACBI is the superior value option right now.


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