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Should Value Investors Buy BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP) Stock?

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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 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 BCB Bancorp NJ (BCBP - Free Report) . BCBP is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 8.83 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 10.03. BCBP's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.05 and as low as 4.88, with a median of 7.08, all within the past year.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BCBP's P/B ratio of 0.72. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against 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 1.34. Within the past 52 weeks, BCBP's P/B has been as high as 0.79 and as low as 0.54, with a median of 0.65.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. BCBP has a P/S ratio of 1.06. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.9.

Finally, investors will want to recognize that BCBP has a P/CF ratio of 10.06. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 13.69. Over the past 52 weeks, BCBP's P/CF has been as high as 10.25 and as low as 4.45, with a median of 6.23.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that BCB Bancorp NJ is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, BCBP feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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