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Should Value Investors Buy SB Financial Group (SBFG) Stock?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore 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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 SB Financial Group (SBFG - Free Report) . SBFG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.09 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.83. Over the last 12 months, SBFG's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.56 and as low as 8.14, with a median of 9.99.

Another notable valuation metric for SBFG is its P/B ratio of 1.03. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.42. Over the past year, SBFG's P/B has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 1.01.

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. SBFG has a P/S ratio of 1.8. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.36.

Finally, we should also recognize that SBFG has a P/CF ratio of 8.39. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. SBFG's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 13.29. SBFG's P/CF has been as high as 10.29 and as low as 7.29, with a median of 8.35, all within the past year.

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

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