Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Can Value Investors Consider Capital City Bank (CCBG) Stock?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. After all, who wouldn’t want to find stocks that are either flying under the radar and are compelling buys, or offer up tantalizing discounts when compared to fair value?

One way to find these companies is by looking at several key metrics and financial ratios, many of which are crucial in the value stock selection process. Let’s put Capital City Bank Group (CCBG - Free Report) stock into this equation and find out if it is a good choice for value-oriented investors right now, or if investors subscribing to this methodology should look elsewhere for top picks:

PE Ratio

A key metric that value investors always look at is the Price to Earnings Ratio, or PE for short. This shows us how much investors are willing to pay for each dollar of earnings in a given stock, and is easily one of the most popular financial ratios in the world. The best use of the PE ratio is to compare the stock’s current PE ratio with: a) where this ratio has been in the past; b) how it compares to the average for the industry/sector; and c) how it compares to the market as a whole.

On this front, Capital City Bank has a trailing twelve months PE ratio of 15.62, as you can see in the chart below:

This level actually compares favorably with the market at large, as the PE for the S&P 500 stands at about 17.8. Also, if we focus on the long-term PE trend, Capital City Bank’s current PE level puts it way below its midpoint of 26.75 over the past five years.

However, the stock’s PE compares unfavorably with the Finance Market’s trailing twelve months PE ratio, which stands at 13.66. This indicates that the stock is quite overvalued right now, compared to its peers.

Also, Capital City Bank has a forward PE ratio (price relative to this year’s earnings) of 13.68, which is slightly higher than the current level. So, it is fair to expect an increase in the share price in the times ahead.

P/S Ratio

Another key metric to note is the Price/Sales ratio. This approach compares a given stock’s price to its total sales, where a lower reading is generally considered better. Some people like this metric more than other value-focused ones because it looks at sales, something that is far harder to manipulate with accounting tricks than earnings.

Right now, Capital City Bank has a P/S ratio of about 2.48. This is a bit lower than the S&P 500 average, which comes in at 3.2x right now. Also, as we can see in the chart below, this is well below the highs for this stock in particular over the past few years.

Broad Value Outlook

In aggregate, Capital City Bank currently has a Value Score of B, putting it into the top 40% of all stocks we cover from this look. This makes Capital City Bank a solid choice for value investors.

What About the Stock Overall?

Though Capital City Bank might be a good choice for value investors, there are plenty of other factors to consider before investing in this name. In particular, it is worth noting that the company has a Growth Score of C and a Momentum Score of B. This gives CCBG a Zacks VGM score — or its overarching fundamental grade — of B. (You can read more about the Zacks Style Scores here >>)

Meanwhile, the company’s recent earnings estimates have been downbeat. The current quarter has seen no upward and four downward revisions in the past sixty days, while the full year estimate has seen one upward revision versus four downward revisions in the same time period.

This has had a negative impact on the consensus estimate as the current quarter consensus estimate has dipped 6.3% over the past two months, while the full year estimate has decreased 7.6%. You can see the consensus estimate trend and recent price action for the stock in the chart below:

Such bearish analyst sentiments is the reason why the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and why we are looking for in-line performance from the company in the near term.

Bottom Line

Capital City Bank is an inspired choice for value investors, as it is hard to beat its incredible lineup of statistics on this front. Also, with a sluggish industry rank (among Bottom 39% of more than 250 industries) and a Zacks Rank #3, it is hard to get too excited about the stock.

In fact, over the past two years, the broader industry has clearly underperformed the market at large, as you can see below:

So, value investors might want to wait for the rank and industry performance to turn around in this name first, but once that happens, this stock could be a compelling pick.

Will you retire a millionaire?

One out of every six people retires a multimillionaire. Get smart tips you can do today to become one of them in a new Special Report, “7 Things You Can Do Now to Retire a Multimillionaire.”

Click to get it free >>


Zacks' 7 Best Strong Buy Stocks (New Research Report)


Valued at $99, click below to receive our just-released report
predicting the 7 stocks that will soar highest in the coming month.


Click Here, It's Really Free

Published in