Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 4 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Banks industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Why Focus on Undervalued Banks Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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4 Undervalued Banks Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 4 undervalued stocks in the Banks industry for Friday, May 31, 2024. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Banks industry median.

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Financial Institutions Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Financial Institutions, Inc. is a financial holding company. The Company provides a full range of banking and related financial services to consumer, commercial and municipal customers through its bank and non-bank subsidiaries. It offers a range of deposit, lending and other financial services to individuals, municipalities and businesses in the Western and Central New York branch network and its Mid-Atlantic commercial loan production office serving the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. region, through its banking subsidiary, Five Star Bank. Its indirect lending network includes relationships with franchised automobile dealers in Western and Central New York, the Capital District of New York, and Northern and Central Pennsylvania. It offers customized investment advice, wealth management, investment consulting and retirement plan services through its subsidiary, Courier Capital, LLC.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Financial Institutions Inc has a Value Score of 98, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Financial Institutions Inc’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.90 compared to the industry median at 1.82, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Financial Institutions Inc’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Financial Institutions Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 7.00 compared to the industry median at 10.04. This means it has a lower share price relative to earnings compared to its peers. This could make Financial Institutions Inc more attractive for value investors.

Now, let’s assess Financial Institutions Inc’s EV/EBITDA ratio, also known as enterprise multiple. At 2.0, when compared to the industry median of 6.4, the company may be considered undervalued in relation to its peers. Value investors could use the enterprise multiple to identify stocks that are considered overvalued or undervalued relative to their industry.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Financial Institutions Inc’s shareholder yield is higher than its industry median ratio of 3.48%. Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

As one of the most common value metrics, the price-to-book ratio evaluates a company’s current market price relative to its book value. Financial Institutions Inc’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 0.89. This could make Financial Institutions Inc more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Old Second Bancorp Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Old Second Bancorp, Inc. serves as the bank holding company for its wholly owned subsidiary bank, Old Second National Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a full-service banking business offering a range of deposit products, trust and wealth management services, lending services, and deposit services, including demand, NOW, money market, savings, time deposit and individual retirement accounts. It also offers commercial, industrial, consumer and real estate lending, including installment loans, agricultural loans, lines of credit, lease financing receivables and overdraft checking, and safe deposit operations. It provides variety of additional services to the needs of individual customers, such as the money orders, cashiers’ checks and foreign currency, direct deposit, discount brokerage, debit cards, credit cards, and other special services. It also provides complement of electronic banking services such as online and mobile banking and corporate cash management products.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Old Second Bancorp Inc has a Value Score of 88, which is considered to be undervalued.

Old Second Bancorp Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 7.2 compared to the industry median at 10.0. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Old Second Bancorp Inc more attractive for value investors.

Old Second Bancorp Inc’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Old Second Bancorp Inc more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 0.89.

You can read more about Old Second Bancorp Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. serves as the holding company for Peoples Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a state-chartered commercial bank. The Bank has a diversified loan portfolio, with no foreign loans and few agricultural loans. The Bank’s loan portfolio also includes Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) mortgage loans generated through its former Banco offices. It has four subsidiaries, such as Peoples Investment Services, Inc., Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc., Community Bank Real Estate Solutions, LLC (CBRES) and PB Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Peoples Investment Services, Inc. provides the Bank’s customers access to investment counseling and non-deposit investment products. Real Estate Advisory Services, Inc. provides real estate appraisal and real estate brokerage services. CBRES serves as a clearinghouse for appraisal services for community banks. PB Real Estate Holdings, LLC acquires, manages, and disposes of real property, other collateral, and assets.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. has a Value Score of 79, which is considered to be undervalued.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.2 compared to the industry median at 10.0. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. less attractive for value investors.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 0.89.

You can read more about Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Timberland Bancorp Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Timberland Bancorp, Inc. is a holding company for Timberland Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a community-oriented bank, which offers a variety of savings products to its retail and business customers while concentrating its lending activities on real estate secured loans. Its lending activities are focused primarily on the origination of loans secured by real estate, including residential construction loans, one-to-four-family residential loans, multi-family loans and commercial real estate loans. The Bank also originates commercial business loans and other consumer loans. It offers personal checking, savings accounts, timberland financial services, health savings accounts, online banking, cash management and remote deposit, ACH transactions, merchant services, and others. The Bank serves consumers and businesses across Grays Harbor, Thurston, Pierce, King, Kitsap and Lewis counties, Washington with a full range of lending and deposit services through its 23 branches.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Timberland Bancorp Inc has a Value Score of 86, which is considered to be undervalued.

Timberland Bancorp Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 8.0 compared to the industry median at 10.0. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Timberland Bancorp Inc more attractive for value investors.

Timberland Bancorp Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Timberland Bancorp Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 0.89.

You can read more about Timberland Bancorp Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Other Banks Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Banks stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 4 Best Banks Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

• Financial Institutions Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Old Second Bancorp Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Timberland Bancorp Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 4 undervalued stocks in the Banks industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Additional Resources About Banks Stocks

Want to learn more about Banks stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

• 2024 Robo-Advice Landscape: Industry Shifts and Leading Platforms
• 4 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Friday, May 31
• 3 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Thursday, May 30
• What You Need to Know About Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (USA)'s Q2 Earnings

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.