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Should Value Investors Buy BCB Bancorp (BCBP) Stock?

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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.

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 stock to keep an eye on is BCB Bancorp (BCBP - Free Report) . BCBP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.65 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 12.66. Over the last 12 months, BCBP's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.99 and as low as 8.65, with a median of 12.21.

Investors should also recognize that BCBP has a P/B ratio of 1.03. 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 1.67. BCBP's P/B has been as high as 1.21 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.84, 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. BCBP has a P/S ratio of 1.86. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.85.

Finally, we should also recognize that BCBP has a P/CF ratio of 9. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. BCBP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 16.06. BCBP's P/CF has been as high as 12.74 and as low as 7.15, with a median of 9.28, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in BCB Bancorp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that BCBP is an impressive value stock right now.


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