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CIVB vs. TCF: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Banks - Midwest stocks are likely familiar with Civista Bancshares (CIVB - Free Report) and TCF Financial . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Civista Bancshares has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while TCF Financial has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CIVB has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

CIVB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.72, while TCF has a forward P/E of 14.40. We also note that CIVB has a PEG ratio of 1.71. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. TCF currently has a PEG ratio of 1.75.

Another notable valuation metric for CIVB is its P/B ratio of 1.44. 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. By comparison, TCF has a P/B of 1.88.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CIVB's Value grade of B and TCF's Value grade of C.

CIVB is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that CIVB is likely the superior value option right now.


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