Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Value Investors Buy Metropolitan Bank Holding (MCB) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

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 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.

One company value investors might notice is Metropolitan Bank Holding (MCB - Free Report) . MCB 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 6.58 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 8.70. Over the last 12 months, MCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.06 and as low as 3.62, with a median of 5.69.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MCB's P/B ratio of 0.72. 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. MCB's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.17. MCB's P/B has been as high as 0.99 and as low as 0.51, with a median of 0.69, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. MCB has a P/S ratio of 1.12. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.57.

Finally, our model also underscores that MCB has a P/CF ratio of 7.23. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 10.70. Within the past 12 months, MCB's P/CF has been as high as 11.23 and as low as 4.43, with a median of 6.83.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Metropolitan Bank Holding'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, MCB looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (MCB) - free report >>

Published in