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Should Value Investors Buy First United (FUNC) Stock?

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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, 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 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 First United (FUNC - Free Report) . FUNC is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Investors should also recognize that FUNC has a P/B ratio of 0.92. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. FUNC's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.25. Over the past 12 months, 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 use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. FUNC has a P/S ratio of 1.46. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.65.

Finally, we should also recognize that FUNC has a P/CF ratio of 7.94. 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. FUNC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 11.25. Over the past 52 weeks, FUNC's P/CF has been as high as 8.85 and as low as 3.18, with a median of 4.39.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in First United'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, FUNC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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