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Should Value Investors Buy Northeast Community Bancorp (NECB) Stock?

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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.

Looking at the history of these trends, perhaps none is more beloved than value investing. This strategy simply looks to identify companies that are being undervalued by the broader market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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 Northeast Community Bancorp (NECB - Free Report) . NECB is currently holding a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 6.68, while its industry has an average P/E of 9.80. Over the past year, NECB's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.12 and as low as 6.28, with a median of 7.47.

Another notable valuation metric for NECB is its P/B ratio of 0.89. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.08. NECB's P/B has been as high as 1.41 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 1.02, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio 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. NECB has a P/S ratio of 1.77. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.85.

Finally, our model also underscores that NECB has a P/CF ratio of 6.39. 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 16.09. Over the past year, NECB's P/CF has been as high as 8.35 and as low as 5.95, with a median of 6.71.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Northeast Community Bancorp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that NECB is an impressive value stock right now.


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