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, December 12, 2025. 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.

Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Business First Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for b1BANK that provides various banking products and services in Louisiana and Texas. It offers various deposit products and services, including checking, demand, money market, time, and savings accounts; and certificates of deposits, remote deposit capture, and direct deposit services. The company also provides commercial and industrial loans, such as working capital, term, equipment financing, asset acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, and other loan products, as well as commercial lines of credit, accounts receivable factoring, agricultural financing, and letters of credit; construction and development loans; commercial real estate loans; residential real estate loans comprising first and second lien 1-4 family mortgage loans, and home equity lines of credit; and consumer loans, including secured and unsecured installment, and term loans. In addition, it offers wealth management products, including mutual funds, annuities, individual retirement accounts, and other financial products, as well as other fiduciary and private banking products and services. Further, the company provides a range of other financial services comprising debit and credit cards, treasury and cash management, merchant, automated clearing house, lock-box, receivables factoring, correspondent banking, and other treasury services, as well as employee and payroll benefits solutions; and drive-through banking facilities, automated teller machines, night depository, personalized checks, electronic funds transfer, domestic and foreign wire transfer, traveler’s checks, vault, loan and deposit sweep accounts, interest-rate swaps, small business administration products, online and mobile banking, e-statements, and bank-by-mail services. Business First Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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.

Business First Bancshares, Inc. has a Value Score of 63, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s price-to-sales ratio at 2.51 compared to the industry median at 3.21, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.70 compared to the industry median at 12.50. This means it has a lower share price relative to earnings compared to its peers. This could make Business First Bancshares, Inc. 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. Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of 2.50%. 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. Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 1.14. This could make Business First Bancshares, Inc. more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. Business First Bancshares, Inc.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 15.45. This could make Business First Bancshares, Inc. more attractive because the lower P/FCF ratio indicates that Business First Bancshares, Inc. 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.

Peoples Financial Services Corp.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Peoples Financial Services Corp. provides commercial and retail banking services. The company accepts money market, negotiable order of withdrawal, savings, individual retirement, demand deposit, and certificates of deposit accounts. It also provides residential real estate, automobile, manufactured housing, personal, and home equity loans; and commercial real estate, working capital, construction, small business administration, and agricultural loans, as well as loans for equipment and other commercial needs, and mineral rights. In addition, the company offers fiduciary and investment services; investment management, IRA trustee, estate administration, living and life insurance trust, trustee under will, guardianship, custodial/IRA custodial, and corporate trust services, as well as pension and profit-sharing plans. Further, it provides wealth management products and services comprising investment portfolio management, estate and business succession planning, annuities, insurance, retirement plan, and tax planning, as well as education funding strategies; and securities, brokerage, and investor services. Additionally, the company offers small business checking and merchant money market accounts, online and telephone banking, business credit cards, merchant line of credit, and financial checkup services; and remote deposit capture, automatic clearing house transaction, cash management, automated teller machine, point of sale transaction, safe deposit box, night depository, direct deposit, and official check services. It serves business, non-profit, governmental, municipal agency, and professional customers, as well as retail customers. The company was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Moosic, 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.

Peoples Financial Services Corp. has a Value Score of 70, which is considered to be undervalued.

Peoples Financial Services Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 9.9 compared to the industry median at 12.5. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Peoples Financial Services Corp. more attractive for value investors.

Peoples Financial Services Corp.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Peoples Financial Services Corp. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Peoples Financial Services 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.

Westamerica Bancorporation’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Westamerica Bancorporation operates as a bank holding company for the Westamerica Bank that provides various banking products and services to individual and commercial customers in the United States. The company accepts various deposit products, including retail savings and checking accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. Its loan portfolio includes commercial, commercial and residential real estate, real estate construction, consumer installment loans, as well as indirect automobile loans. The company serves small businesses, professionals, and consumers. The company was formerly known as Independent Bankshares Corporation and changed its name to Westamerica Bancorporation in 1983. Westamerica Bancorporation was founded in 1884 and is headquartered in San Rafael, California.

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.

Westamerica Bancorporation has a Value Score of 74, which is considered to be undervalued.

Westamerica Bancorporation’s price-earnings ratio is 10.6 compared to the industry median at 12.5. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Westamerica Bancorporation more attractive for value investors.

Westamerica Bancorporation’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Westamerica Bancorporation more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Westamerica Bancorporation’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.

• Business First Bancshares, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Peoples Financial Services Corp. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Westamerica Bancorporation stock has a Value Grade of B.

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, December 12
• Is Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA) Overvalued?
• Is Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) Overvalued?
• Is Bank of America Corporation (BAC) Overvalued?

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.