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Should Value Investors Buy First United (FUNC) Stock?

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The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find 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.

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 to watch right now is First United (FUNC - Free Report) . FUNC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is FUNC's P/B ratio of 0.99. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 1.29. Within the past 52 weeks, FUNC's P/B has been as high as 1.03 and as low as 0.55, with a median of 0.72.

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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. FUNC has a P/S ratio of 1.53. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.7.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that FUNC has a P/CF ratio of 6.64. 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. FUNC's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 11.78. Within the past 12 months, FUNC's P/CF has been as high as 6.93 and as low as 3.18, with a median of 4.39.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that First United is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, FUNC sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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