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Should Value Investors Buy Colony Bankcorp (CBAN) 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, 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

Colony Bankcorp (CBAN - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CBAN 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 7.37. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.41. Over the last 12 months, CBAN's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.95 and as low as 6.81, with a median of 8.89.

Investors should also recognize that CBAN has a P/B ratio of 0.70. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.54. Over the past year, CBAN's P/B has been as high as 1.20 and as low as 0.64, with a median of 1.03.

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. CBAN has a P/S ratio of 1.26. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.9.

Finally, investors should note that CBAN has a P/CF ratio of 5.57. 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 stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 9.74. Over the past 52 weeks, CBAN's P/CF has been as high as 9.30 and as low as 5.12, with a median of 7.70.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Colony Bankcorp'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, CBAN looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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