Is Popular (BPOP) Stock Undervalued Right Now?
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.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
Popular (BPOP) is a stock many investors are watching right now. BPOP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with a P/E ratio of 9.13, which compares to its industry's average of 11.65. BPOP's Forward P/E has been as high as 11 and as low as 7.63, with a median of 9.55, all within the past year.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BPOP's P/B ratio of 1.07. 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. BPOP's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.67. BPOP's P/B has been as high as 1.11 and as low as 0.80, with a median of 0.96, 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. BPOP has a P/S ratio of 2.09. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.91.
Finally, our model also underscores that BPOP has a P/CF ratio of 8.81. This metric focuses on a firm's operating cash flow and is often used to find stocks that are undervalued based on the strength of their cash outlook. BPOP's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 12. Over the past 52 weeks, BPOP's P/CF has been as high as 34.34 and as low as 7.50, with a median of 15.85.
These are just a handful of the figures considered in Popular'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 BPOP is an impressive value stock right now.
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