Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Summit Financial Group (SMMF) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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.

Summit Financial Group (SMMF - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. SMMF is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 5.87, while its industry has an average P/E of 9.92. SMMF's Forward P/E has been as high as 6.71 and as low as 4.43, with a median of 5.48, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is SMMF's P/B ratio of 0.90. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 1.77. SMMF's P/B has been as high as 1.11 and as low as 0.63, with a median of 0.84, over the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. SMMF has a P/S ratio of 1.5. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.82.

Finally, we should also recognize that SMMF has a P/CF ratio of 6.11. 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. SMMF's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.81. Within the past 12 months, SMMF's P/CF has been as high as 6.25 and as low as 3.53, with a median of 5.34.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Summit Financial Group'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 SMMF is an impressive value stock right now.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


Summit Financial Group, Inc. (SMMF) - free report >>

Published in