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Are Investors Undervaluing Private Bancorp of America (PBAM) Right Now?

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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.

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.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One company value investors might notice is Private Bancorp of America (PBAM - Free Report) . PBAM 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 7.36, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.11. Over the last 12 months, PBAM's Forward P/E has been as high as 8.28 and as low as 4.84, with a median of 6.57.

We should also highlight that PBAM has a P/B ratio of 1.26. 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. PBAM's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.97. Within the past 52 weeks, PBAM's P/B has been as high as 1.35 and as low as 1, with a median of 1.08.

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. PBAM has a P/S ratio of 1.7. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.88.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that PBAM has a P/CF ratio of 8.05. 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 16.48. Within the past 12 months, PBAM's P/CF has been as high as 8.62 and as low as 4.98, with a median of 5.25.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Private Bancorp of America'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 PBAM is an impressive value stock right now.


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