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CVCY vs. COLB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - West sector have probably already heard of Central Valley Community Bancorp and Columbia Banking (COLB - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, both Central Valley Community Bancorp and Columbia Banking are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

CVCY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.59, while COLB has a forward P/E of 16.16. We also note that CVCY has a PEG ratio of 1.57. 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. COLB currently has a PEG ratio of 2.31.

Another notable valuation metric for CVCY is its P/B ratio of 1.27. 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. By comparison, COLB has a P/B of 1.46.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CVCY's Value grade of B and COLB's Value grade of D.

Both CVCY and COLB are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CVCY is the superior value option right now.


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