Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is First Community (FCCO) Stock Undervalued 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.

Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is First Community (FCCO - Free Report) . FCCO is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value.

Another notable valuation metric for FCCO is its P/B ratio of 1.11. 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 1.66. Over the past year, FCCO's P/B has been as high as 1.28 and as low as 1.03, with a median of 1.13.

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. FCCO has a P/S ratio of 2.26. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.77.

Finally, investors should note that FCCO has a P/CF ratio of 6.95. 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. FCCO's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.52. Over the past year, FCCO's P/CF has been as high as 9.50 and as low as 6.78, with a median of 8.10.

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


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


First Community Corporation (FCCO) - free report >>

Published in