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Are Investors Undervaluing Popular (BPOP) Right Now?

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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.

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.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

Popular (BPOP - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. BPOP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 9.99, while its industry has an average P/E of 10.96. BPOP's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.26 and as low as 7.81, with a median of 9.45, all within the past year.

BPOP is also sporting a PEG ratio of 0.57. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. BPOP's PEG compares to its industry's average PEG of 1.18. Within the past year, BPOP's PEG has been as high as 0.92 and as low as 0.50, with a median of 0.61.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BPOP's P/B ratio of 1.37. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.89. Over the past year, BPOP's P/B has been as high as 1.41 and as low as 0.98, with a median of 1.25.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. BPOP has a P/S ratio of 1.8. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.19.

Finally, we should also recognize that BPOP has a P/CF ratio of 15.49. 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. BPOP's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.56. Over the past year, BPOP's P/CF has been as high as 19.61 and as low as 11.94, with a median of 16.52.

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


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