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Should Value Investors Buy South Plains Financial (SPFI) 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is South Plains Financial (SPFI - Free Report) . SPFI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 10.77, while its industry has an average P/E of 12.49. SPFI's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.44 and as low as 7.34, with a median of 9.48, all within the past year.

We should also highlight that SPFI has a P/B ratio of 1.21. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. SPFI's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.82. SPFI's P/B has been as high as 1.22 and as low as 0.92, with a median of 1.08, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SPFI has a P/S ratio of 2.02. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.18.

Finally, we should also recognize that SPFI has a P/CF ratio of 6.99. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 16.31. Within the past 12 months, SPFI's P/CF has been as high as 8.31 and as low as 5.68, with a median of 6.57.

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


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