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Is Metropolitan Bank Holding (MCB) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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.

Metropolitan Bank Holding (MCB - Free Report) is a stock many investors are watching right now. MCB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 5.87, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.13. Over the past year, MCB's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.06 and as low as 3.99, with a median of 5.84.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is MCB's P/B ratio of 0.65. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to 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 1.11. MCB's P/B has been as high as 0.99 and as low as 0.53, with a median of 0.69, 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 popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. MCB has a P/S ratio of 1.01. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.54.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that MCB has a P/CF ratio of 6.52. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. MCB's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 10.10. Over the past 52 weeks, MCB's P/CF has been as high as 11.23 and as low as 5.12, with a median of 6.89.

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

Unity Bancorp sports a P/B ratio of 1 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.11. In the past 52 weeks, UNTY's P/B has been as high as 1.19, as low as 0.91, with a median of 1.05.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Metropolitan Bank Holding and Unity 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 MCB and UNTY is an impressive value stock right now.


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

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