Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are These Finance Stocks a Great Value Stocks Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is BGC Partners . BGCP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 5.98 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 14.11. Over the past 52 weeks, BGCP's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.53 and as low as 5.12, with a median of 7.57.

We should also highlight that BGCP has a P/B ratio of 2.31. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 2.75. Over the past year, BGCP's P/B has been as high as 3.11 and as low as 1.64, with a median of 2.54.

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. BGCP has a P/S ratio of 0.77. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.

Finally, our model also underscores that BGCP has a P/CF ratio of 8.08. 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. BGCP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 18.26. Within the past 12 months, BGCP's P/CF has been as high as 14.58 and as low as 6.10, with a median of 10.56.

Investors could also keep in mind Greenhill & Co. , an Financial - Investment Bank stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Greenhill & Co. also has a P/B ratio of 3.87 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 2.75. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 4.73, as low as 2.47, with a median of 4.04.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that BGC Partners and Greenhill & Co. are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, BGCP and GHL sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

Published in