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Should Value Investors Buy BanColombia (CIB) 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 use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

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 stock to keep an eye on is BanColombia (CIB - Free Report) . CIB is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 6.63, which compares to its industry's average of 9.46. Over the past year, CIB's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.19 and as low as 5.05, with a median of 5.51.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CIB's P/B ratio of 1.22. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.28. CIB's P/B has been as high as 1.22 and as low as 0.61, with a median of 0.91, 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. CIB has a P/S ratio of 0.98. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.55.

Finally, we should also recognize that CIB has a P/CF ratio of 7.71. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. CIB's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.13. Over the past 52 weeks, CIB's P/CF has been as high as 7.74 and as low as 3.90, with a median of 4.62.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that BanColombia is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, CIB feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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