Is South Plains Financial (SPFI) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 to watch right now is South Plains Financial (SPFI). SPFI is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Investors should also recognize that SPFI has a P/B ratio of 1.4. 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. SPFI's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.93. Over the past year, SPFI's P/B has been as high as 1.50 and as low as 1.12, with a median of 1.31.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is calculated as price divided by 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. SPFI has a P/S ratio of 2.36. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.38.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in South Plains Financial's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, SPFI looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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