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Should Value Investors Buy First Community Bancshares (FCBC) 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.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

First Community Bancshares (FCBC - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. FCBC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

We should also highlight that FCBC has a P/B ratio of 0.89. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 0.91. Over the past year, FCBC's P/B has been as high as 1.48 and as low as 0.68, with a median of 0.91.

Finally, our model also underscores that FCBC has a P/CF ratio of 8.66. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 11. Over the past year, FCBC's P/CF has been as high as 11.01 and as low as 6.37, with a median of 8.47.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in First Community Bancshares'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, FCBC looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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