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Is Midland States Bancorp (MSBI) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Midland States Bancorp (MSBI - Free Report) . MSBI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.85 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.56. Over the last 12 months, MSBI's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.27 and as low as 6.52, with a median of 8.01.

Investors should also recognize that MSBI has a P/B ratio of 0.90. 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. MSBI's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.47. MSBI's P/B has been as high as 1.01 and as low as 0.78, with a median of 0.88, over the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. MSBI has a P/S ratio of 1.91. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.84.

Finally, investors should note that MSBI has a P/CF ratio of 5.68. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.01. Within the past 12 months, MSBI's P/CF has been as high as 10.25 and as low as 5.35, with a median of 6.49.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Midland States Bancorp's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, MSBI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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