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Should Value Investors Buy Chemung Financial Corp (CHMG) 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, 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 company to watch right now is Chemung Financial Corp (CHMG - Free Report) . CHMG is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.77 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 11.02. Over the past 52 weeks, CHMG's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.44 and as low as 7.34, with a median of 8.83.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is CHMG's P/B ratio of 1.07. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus 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 1.91. Over the past year, CHMG's P/B has been as high as 1.19 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 1.05.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. CHMG has a P/S ratio of 1.83. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.24.

Finally, our model also underscores that CHMG has a P/CF ratio of 15.76. 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. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 16.49. Over the past 52 weeks, CHMG's P/CF has been as high as 16.30 and as low as 7.10, with a median of 8.62.

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


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