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Should Value Investors Buy Popular (BPOP) 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 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.

Popular (BPOP - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. BPOP is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 10.36 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.55. Over the past year, BPOP's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.26 and as low as 7.81, with a median of 9.44.

Investors will also notice that BPOP has a PEG ratio of 0.61. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. BPOP's industry has an average PEG of 0.65 right now. Over the past 52 weeks, BPOP's PEG has been as high as 0.92 and as low as 0.50, with a median of 0.60.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BPOP's P/B ratio of 1.48. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.82. BPOP's P/B has been as high as 1.48 and as low as 0.98, with a median of 1.25, over the past year.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. BPOP has a P/S ratio of 1.9. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.2.

Finally, our model also underscores that BPOP has a P/CF ratio of 16.96. 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. BPOP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 17.96. Over the past year, BPOP's P/CF has been as high as 19.54 and as low as 11.90, with a median of 16.06.

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


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