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 Monday, September 30, 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.

OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

OceanFirst Financial Corp. is a holding company for OceanFirst Bank N.A. (the Bank). The Bank is a full-service regional bank delivering financial products and services, which include commercial and consumer financing, deposit services, and wealth management products and services, throughout New Jersey and the metropolitan markets of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and others. The Bank's commercial loans include multi-family and commercial real estate loans, commercial construction loans, and commercial and industrial loans. The Bank’s primary sources of funds are deposits, principal and interest payments on loans and investments, and other borrowings. It also generates non-interest income such as income from bankcard services, trust and asset management products and services, deposit account services, and others. It operates approximately 37 branch offices, and deposit production facilities located throughout New Jersey and metropolitan area of New York City and Philadelphia.

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.

OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a Value Score of 82, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s price-to-sales ratio at 1.67 compared to the industry median at 2.05, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s stock more attractive for value investors.

OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.05 compared to the industry median at 11.91. This means it has a lower share price relative to earnings compared to its peers. This could make OceanFirst Financial Corp. more attractive for value investors.

Now, let’s assess OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s EV/EBITDA ratio, also known as enterprise multiple. At 5.5, when compared to the industry median of 6.5, 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. OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s shareholder yield is higher than its industry median ratio of 3.00%. 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. OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 1.01. This could make OceanFirst Financial Corp. more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Lastly, let’s take a look at OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. OceanFirst Financial Corp.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is higher than its industry median ratio of 13.86. This could make OceanFirst Financial Corp. less attractive because the higher P/FCF ratio indicates that OceanFirst Financial Corp. is undervalued. The P/FCF ratio metric can also be viewed over a long-term time frame to see if the company's cash flow to share price value is generally improving or worsening.

Premier Financial Corp (OHIO)’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Premier Financial Corp. is the holding company for Premier Bank (the Bank). The Bank is primarily engaged in community banking. It attracts deposits from the general public through its offices and Website, and uses those and other available sources of funds to originate residential real estate loans, commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, home improvement and home equity loans and consumer loans. In addition, the Bank invests in United States Treasury and federal government agency obligations, obligations of states and political subdivisions, mortgage-backed securities that are issued by federal agencies, including real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) and residential collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and corporate bonds. The Bank offers customers a range of deposit products including demand, checking, money market and savings accounts. The Bank operates approximately 75 branches and nine loan offices in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

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.

Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) has a Value Score of 71, which is considered to be undervalued.

Premier Financial Corp (OHIO)’s price-earnings ratio is 10.5 compared to the industry median at 11.9. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) more attractive for value investors.

Premier Financial Corp (OHIO)’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.01.

You can read more about Premier Financial Corp (OHIO)’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.

Tri City Bankshares Corp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Tri City Bankshares Corporation is a bank holding company, which offers a range of financial products and services to external customers, including accepting deposits and originating residential, consumer and commercial loans. It operates through the community banking segment. Its wholly owned subsidiary is Tri City National Bank (the Bank). The Bank's personal banking services include checking accounts, savings and certificate of deposits, health savings accounts, individual retirement accounts, credit cards, and investments. The Bank's business banking services include business loans, business checking, business savings and certificate of deposits, health savings account (HSA) for employers, business credit cards, business services, business fraud prevention, and municipal banking. The Bank's mortgages and loans include mortgages, auto loans, personal loans, and business loans. The Bank's additional services include safe deposit boxes, gift cards, and 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.

Tri City Bankshares Corp has a Value Score of 90, which is considered to be undervalued.

Tri City Bankshares Corp’s price-earnings ratio is 9.1 compared to the industry median at 11.9. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Tri City Bankshares Corp more attractive for value investors.

Tri City Bankshares Corp’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Tri City Bankshares Corp less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.01.

You can read more about Tri City Bankshares Corp’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.

• OceanFirst Financial Corp. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Tri City Bankshares Corp 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 Monday, September 30
• 5 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Friday, September 27
• Why Orange County Bancorp Inc’s (OBT) Stock Is Up 4.85%
• Why Plumas Bancorp’s (PLBC) Stock Is Up 4.28%

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.