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Are Investors Undervaluing These Finance Stocks Right Now?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

Merchants Bancorp (MBIN - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MBIN is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.29, which compares to its industry's average of 13.74. Over the last 12 months, MBIN's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.72 and as low as 5.78, with a median of 7.01.

Investors should also recognize that MBIN has a P/B ratio of 1.90. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.91. Over the past 12 months, MBIN's P/B has been as high as 2.10 and as low as 1.43, with a median of 1.74.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's 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. MBIN has a P/S ratio of 2.97. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.06.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that MBIN has a P/CF ratio of 6.11. 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 company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 19.14. Over the past 52 weeks, MBIN's P/CF has been as high as 6.88 and as low as 4.35, with a median of 5.34.

If you're looking for another solid Banks - Northeast value stock, take a look at The Community Financial . TCFC is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.

The Community Financial also has a P/B ratio of 1.11 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.91. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 1.13, as low as 0.71, with a median of 1.04.

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


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