Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Alerus Financial (ALRS) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One stock to keep an eye on is Alerus Financial (ALRS - Free Report) . ALRS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.94, which compares to its industry's average of 18.37. Over the last 12 months, ALRS's Forward P/E has been as high as 19.71 and as low as 7.50, with a median of 10.38.

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. ALRS has a P/S ratio of 1.49. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.81.

Finally, our model also underscores that ALRS has a P/CF ratio of 12.62. 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 20.22. Over the past 52 weeks, ALRS's P/CF has been as high as 41.87 and as low as 9.72, with a median of 19.21.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Alerus Financial'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, ALRS looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


Alerus Financial (ALRS) - free report >>

Published in