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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.
Of these, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.
One company to watch right now is Chemung Financial Corp (CHMG). CHMG is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A. The stock has a Forward P/E ratio of 9.79. This compares to its industry's average Forward P/E of 13.03. Over the past 52 weeks, CHMG's Forward P/E has been as high as 10.14 and as low as 7.89, with a median of 9.04.
Another notable valuation metric for CHMG is its P/B ratio of 1.22. 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. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 2.21. Over the past year, CHMG's P/B has been as high as 1.39 and as low as 0.95, with a median of 1.10.
Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CHMG has a P/S ratio of 1.66. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.24.
Finally, we should also recognize that CHMG has a P/CF ratio of 9.46. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. This stock's P/CF looks attractive against its industry's average P/CF of 19.59. Over the past 52 weeks, CHMG's P/CF has been as high as 9.53 and as low as 6.28, with a median of 7.13.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Chemung Financial Corp's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that CHMG is an impressive value stock right now.