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Should Value Investors Buy First Financial Ban (FFBC) 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 First Financial Ban (FFBC - Free Report) . FFBC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 8.72, which compares to its industry's average of 9.73. Over the past year, FFBC's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.20 and as low as 7.99, with a median of 9.35.

We should also highlight that FFBC has a P/B ratio of 0.99. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.76. Over the past year, FFBC's P/B has been as high as 1.18 and as low as 0.84, with a median of 0.98.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. FFBC has a P/S ratio of 1.91. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.99.

Finally, our model also underscores that FFBC has a P/CF ratio of 9.43. 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. FFBC's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.13. Within the past 12 months, FFBC's P/CF has been as high as 11.32 and as low as 8.07, with a median of 9.21.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in First Financial Ban'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 FFBC is an impressive value stock right now.


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