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Are Investors Undervaluing First Guaranty Bancshares (FGBI) Right Now?

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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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is First Guaranty Bancshares (FGBI - Free Report) . FGBI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 7.36, which compares to its industry's average of 13.01. FGBI's Forward P/E has been as high as 12.03 and as low as 6.32, with a median of 9.37, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is FGBI's P/B ratio of 0.79. 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 solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.65. Over the past 12 months, FGBI's P/B has been as high as 1.24 and as low as 0.60, with a median of 1.14.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. FGBI has a P/S ratio of 1.18. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.87.

Finally, investors should note that FGBI has a P/CF ratio of 7.04. 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. FGBI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 13.42. Over the past year, FGBI's P/CF has been as high as 11.56 and as low as 5.91, with a median of 10.26.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that First Guaranty Bancshares is likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, FGBI sticks out at as one of the market's strongest value stocks.


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