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Should Value Investors Buy Home Bancorp (HBCP) 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, 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.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Home Bancorp (HBCP - Free Report) . HBCP is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.25, which compares to its industry's average of 10.46. Over the past year, HBCP's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.07 and as low as 6.47, with a median of 11.86.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is HBCP's P/B ratio of 0.75. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with 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 0.91. HBCP's P/B has been as high as 1.20 and as low as 0.57, with a median of 0.75, over the past year.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. HBCP has a P/S ratio of 2.03. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.08.

Finally, investors should note that HBCP has a P/CF ratio of 7.34. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. HBCP's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 11. Over the past 52 weeks, HBCP's P/CF has been as high as 9.05 and as low as 4.45, with a median of 7.50.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Home Bancorp'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, HBCP looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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