Is Isabella Bank (ISBA) a Great Value Stock Right Now?

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

In addition to the Zacks Rank, investors looking for stocks with specific traits can utilize our Style Scores system. Of course, value investors will be most interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with "A" grades for Value and high Zacks Ranks are among the best value stocks available at any given moment.

One company to watch right now is Isabella Bank (ISBA). ISBA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.54 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 7.96. Over the past year, ISBA's Forward P/E has been as high as 14.96 and as low as 6.54, with a median of 11.78.

Another notable valuation metric for ISBA is its P/B ratio of 0.85. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. ISBA's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.42. ISBA's P/B has been as high as 1.01 and as low as 0.85, with a median of 0.93, over the past year.

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. ISBA has a P/S ratio of 2.14. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.71.

Finally, we should also recognize that ISBA has a P/CF ratio of 6.61. This metric takes into account a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find stocks that are undervalued based on their solid cash outlook. This company's current P/CF looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 14.34. Over the past year, ISBA's P/CF has been as high as 11.94 and as low as 6.61, with a median of 7.97.

Another great Banks - Northeast stock you could consider is Meridian Bank (MRBK), which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Meridian Bank sports a P/B ratio of 1.14 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 1.42. In the past 52 weeks, MRBK's P/B has been as high as 1.45, as low as 1.11, with a median of 1.22.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Isabella Bank and Meridian Bank are likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, ISBA and MRBK feels like a great value stock at the moment.

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Isabella Bank Corporation (ISBA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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