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.
Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.
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 stock to keep an eye on is Northrim BanCorp (NRIM). NRIM is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.62. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 10.21. Over the last 12 months, NRIM's Forward P/E has been as high as 15.00 and as low as 8.27, with a median of 9.85.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. NRIM has a P/S ratio of 2.14. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.44.
These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Northrim BanCorp is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, NRIM feels like a great value stock at the moment.
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Northrim BanCorp Inc (NRIM): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).