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.
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.
Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.
One company value investors might notice is Northeast Community Bancorp (NECB). NECB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 7.24 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.24. NECB's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.12 and as low as 6.19, with a median of 7.81, all within the past year.
Finally, investors should note that NECB has a P/CF ratio of 6.55. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. NECB's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 16.43. Over the past 52 weeks, NECB's P/CF has been as high as 8.35 and as low as 4.36, with a median of 6.35.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Northeast Community Bancorp is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, NECB feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Northeast Community Bancorp Inc. (NECB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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