Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 3 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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3 Undervalued Banks Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 3 undervalued stocks in the Banks industry for Friday, June 07, 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.

Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

NatWest Group plc is a United Kingdom-based banking company. The Company serves customers in England and Wales, supporting them with their personal, private, and business banking needs. The Company also offers businesses specialist sector knowledge in areas such as sustainable energy, commercial property and technology, as well as access to specialist entrepreneurial support. Its segments include Retail Banking, Private Banking, Commercial & Institutional, and Central items & other. Retail Banking segment serves personal customers in the United Kingdom, including Ulster Bank customers in Northern Ireland. Private Banking segment serves United Kingdom-connected high-net-worth individuals and their business interests. Commercial & Institutional segment consists of customer businesses reported under business banking, commercial mid-market and corporate & institutions, supporting its customers across the full non-personal customer lifecycle, both domestically and internationally.

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.

Natwest Group PLC - ADR has a Value Score of 96, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s price-to-sales ratio at 1.26 compared to the industry median at 1.81, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s price-earnings ratio is 6.98 compared to the industry median at 10.08. This means it has a lower share price relative to earnings compared to its peers. This could make Natwest Group PLC - ADR more attractive for value investors.

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. Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s shareholder yield is higher than its industry median ratio of 3.54%. 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. Natwest Group PLC - ADR’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 0.88. This could make Natwest Group PLC - ADR more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Provident Financial Services, Inc. is a holding company for The Provident Bank (the Bank). The Bank is a community-oriented financial institution that provides an array of financial products and business and retail services through its network of branches throughout northern and central New Jersey, Bucks, Lehigh and Northampton counties in Pennsylvania, as well as Orange, Queens and Nassau Counties in New York. Its business services include commercial loans and lines of credit, commercial real estate loans, loans for healthcare services, asset-based lending, equipment financing, small business loans, and lines and cash management services. Its consumer services include online and mobile banking, home equity loans and lines, and mortgage options. It also provides fiduciary and wealth management services through its wholly owned subsidiary, Beacon Trust Company, and insurance brokerage services through its subsidiary, Provident Protection Plus, Inc. It operates over 140 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.

Provident Financial Services, Inc. has a Value Score of 92, which is considered to be undervalued.

Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 8.6 compared to the industry median at 10.1. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Provident Financial Services, Inc. more attractive for value investors.

Provident Financial Services, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Provident Financial Services, Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 0.88.

You can read more about Provident Financial Services, 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.

Waterstone Financial Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Waterstone Financial, Inc. is the savings and loan holding company for WaterStone Bank SSB (the Bank). The Bank offers a suite of personal and business banking products. The Company's segments include community banking and mortgage banking. The community banking segment provides consumer and business banking products and services to customers. Its consumer products include loan products, deposit products, and personal investment services. Its business banking products include loans for working capital, inventory and general corporate use, commercial real estate construction loans, and deposit accounts. The mortgage banking segment, which is conducted through Waterstone Mortgage Corporation, consists of originating residential mortgage loans primarily for sale in the secondary market. The Bank has branches in Wauwatosa/State St, Brookfield, Fox Point/North Shore, Franklin/Hales Corners, Germantown/Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee/Oklahoma Ave, Oak Creek/Howell Ave and various others.

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.

Waterstone Financial Inc has a Value Score of 81, which is considered to be undervalued.

Waterstone Financial Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 23.7 compared to the industry median at 10.1. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Waterstone Financial Inc less attractive for value investors.

Waterstone Financial Inc’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Waterstone Financial Inc less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 0.88.

You can read more about Waterstone Financial 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 3 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.

• Natwest Group PLC - ADR stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Provident Financial Services, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Waterstone Financial Inc stock has a Value Grade of A.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 3 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.

• 3 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Friday, June 07
• 7 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Thursday, June 06
• Which Is a Better Investment, Banco Bbva Argentina SA (ADR) or East West Bancorp Inc Stock?
• Why Banco Bbva Argentina SA (ADR)’s (BBAR) Stock Is Down 6.04%

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.