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Is Midland States Bancorp (MSBI) a Great Value Stock 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 company value investors might notice is Midland States Bancorp (MSBI - Free Report) . MSBI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.42 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.71. Over the past 52 weeks, MSBI's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.27 and as low as 6.20, with a median of 7.48.

Another notable valuation metric for MSBI is its P/B ratio of 0.96. 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 1.56. Over the past year, MSBI's P/B has been as high as 1.01 and as low as 0.79, with a median of 0.89.

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 prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. MSBI has a P/S ratio of 1.84. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.8.

Finally, investors should note that MSBI has a P/CF ratio of 5.73. 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. MSBI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 15.88. MSBI's P/CF has been as high as 6.69 and as low as 4.87, with a median of 5.84, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Midland States Bancorp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that MSBI is an impressive value stock right now.


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