Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Are Investors Undervaluing First Business Financial Services (FBIZ) Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One stock to keep an eye on is First Business Financial Services (FBIZ - Free Report) . FBIZ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.90 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.79. Over the last 12 months, FBIZ's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.38 and as low as 5.93, with a median of 7.76.

Investors should also recognize that FBIZ has a P/B ratio of 0.99. 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 1.58. FBIZ's P/B has been as high as 1.39 and as low as 0.82, with a median of 1.09, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. FBIZ has a P/S ratio of 1.34. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.8.

Finally, investors should note that FBIZ has a P/CF ratio of 5.67. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.94. Within the past 12 months, FBIZ's P/CF has been as high as 7.44 and as low as 4.42, with a median of 6.13.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in First Business Financial Services'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 FBIZ is an impressive value stock right now.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


First Business Financial Services, Inc. (FBIZ) - free report >>

Published in