Should Value Investors Buy Macro Bank (BMA) Stock?

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, 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 Macro Bank (BMA). BMA is currently holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 5.21, which compares to its industry's average of 11.35. Over the past 52 weeks, BMA's Forward P/E has been as high as 13.85 and as low as 4.76, with a median of 8.22.

Investors should also note that BMA holds a PEG ratio of 0.38. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. BMA's industry currently sports an average PEG of 0.73. BMA's PEG has been as high as 0.46 and as low as 0.21, with a median of 0.29, all within 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. This is a preferred metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. BMA has a P/S ratio of 1.25. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.28.

Another great Banks - Foreign stock you could consider is Shinhan Financial Group Co (SHG), which is a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Shares of Shinhan Financial Group Co currently hold a Forward P/E ratio of 6.31, and its PEG ratio is 0.51. In comparison, its industry sports average P/E and PEG ratios of 11.35 and 0.73.

Over the last 12 months, SHG's P/E has been as high as 7.09, as low as 4.11, with a median of 5.60, and its PEG ratio has been as high as 0.72, as low as 0.37, with a median of 0.51.

Furthermore, Shinhan Financial Group Co holds a P/B ratio of 0.57 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 2.77. SHG's P/B has been as high as 0.59, as low as 0.35, with a median of 0.48 over the past 12 months.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Macro Bank and Shinhan Financial Group Co'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 BMA and SHG is an impressive value stock right now.

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

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