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Are These Finance Stocks a Great Value Stocks 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.

Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is CF Bankshares (CFBK - Free Report) . CFBK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.95, while its industry has an average P/E of 12.82. Over the past 52 weeks, CFBK's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.97 and as low as 4.98, with a median of 6.74.

Investors should also recognize that CFBK has a P/B ratio of 0.93. 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 attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.70. CFBK's P/B has been as high as 1 and as low as 0.73, with a median of 0.88, 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. CFBK has a P/S ratio of 1.51. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 3.03.

Finally, our model also underscores that CFBK has a P/CF ratio of 7.46. 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. CFBK's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 17.36. CFBK's P/CF has been as high as 7.99 and as low as 3.76, with a median of 4.61, all within the past year.

Another great Banks - Northeast stock you could consider is Limestone Bancorp , which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Limestone Bancorp also has a P/B ratio of 0.96 compared to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.70. Over the past year, its P/B ratio has been as high as 1.02, as low as 0.68, with a median of 0.88.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in CF Bankshares and Limestone Bancorp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that CFBK and LMST is an impressive value stock right now.


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