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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, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. 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 company to watch right now is BCB Bancorp (BCBP - Free Report) . BCBP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 8.51, while its industry has an average P/E of 12.29. BCBP's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.99 and as low as 8.15, with a median of 12.08, all within the past year.

Another notable valuation metric for BCBP is its P/B ratio of 1.01. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.62. Over the past 12 months, BCBP's P/B has been as high as 1.21 and as low as 0.62, with a median of 0.86.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. BCBP has a P/S ratio of 1.84. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.78.

Finally, our model also underscores that BCBP has a P/CF ratio of 8.85. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 15.66. Within the past 12 months, BCBP's P/CF has been as high as 12.74 and as low as 7.15, with a median of 9.27.

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


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