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Should Value Investors Buy East West Bancorp (EWBC) Stock?

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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.

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 company value investors might notice is East West Bancorp (EWBC - Free Report) . EWBC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 8.93. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 11.08. Over the past 52 weeks, EWBC's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.16 and as low as 7.22, with a median of 8.57.

We also note that EWBC holds a PEG ratio of 0.89. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. EWBC's industry has an average PEG of 1.10 right now. Within the past year, EWBC's PEG has been as high as 1.42 and as low as 0.72, with a median of 0.86.

Finally, our model also underscores that EWBC has a P/CF ratio of 8.63. 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. EWBC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 9.81. EWBC's P/CF has been as high as 12.54 and as low as 7.24, with a median of 8.97, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in East West 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 EWBC is an impressive value stock right now.


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