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Is Popular (BPOP) a Great Value Stock 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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.

One stock to keep an eye on is Popular (BPOP - Free Report) . BPOP 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 9.09, which compares to its industry's average of 9.89. Over the last 12 months, BPOP's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.74 and as low as 6.70, with a median of 9.13.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BPOP's P/B ratio of 1.21. 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 company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.71. BPOP's P/B has been as high as 1.34 and as low as 0.97, with a median of 1.17, over the past year.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by 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. BPOP has a P/S ratio of 1.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.79.

Finally, investors should note that BPOP has a P/CF ratio of 12.96. 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. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 14.03. BPOP's P/CF has been as high as 13.98 and as low as 4.18, with a median of 9.96, all within the past year.

Investors could also keep in mind Bank7 (BSVN - Free Report) , an Banks - Southeast stock with a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) and Value grade of A.

Furthermore, Bank7 holds a P/B ratio of 1.59 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 1.71. BSVN's P/B has been as high as 1.60, as low as 1.12, with a median of 1.44 over the past 12 months.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in Popular and Bank7 strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, BPOP and BSVN look like an impressive value stock at the moment.


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