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.
Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
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.
BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP) is a stock many investors are watching right now. BCBP is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.3, which compares to its industry's average of 9.98. Over the past 52 weeks, BCBP's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.33 and as low as 6.85, with a median of 8.77.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BCBP's P/B ratio of 0.51. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.10. BCBP's P/B has been as high as 0.77 and as low as 0.46, with a median of 0.56, over the past year.
Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. BCBP has a P/S ratio of 0.77. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.88.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in BCB Bancorp NJ's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, BCBP looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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BCB Bancorp, Inc. (NJ) (BCBP): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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