Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 6 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.

Click the button below to learn more about A+ Investor and subscribe today.

6 Undervalued Banks Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 6 undervalued stocks in the Banks industry for Wednesday, March 18, 2026. 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.

Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Capital Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Capital Bank, N.A., provides various banking products and services to businesses, not-for-profit associations, and entrepreneurs in the United States. It operates through four divisions: Commercial Banking, Capital Bank Home Loans, OpenSky, Windsor Advantage. The company offers a range of deposit products, including checking and savings, time, interest bearing and noninterest-bearing demand, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; and secured, partially secured, and unsecured credit cards. It also originates residential mortgages; issues trust preferred securities; and provides residential and commercial real estate, construction, and commercial and industrial loans; servicing, processing, and packaging of Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture loans; as well as other consumer loans, such as term loans, car loans, and boat loans to small to medium-sized businesses, professionals, real estate investors, small residential builders and individuals, and financial institution clients, including Capital Bank. Capital Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

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.

Capital Bancorp, Inc. has a Value Score of 87, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s price-to-sales ratio at 2.09 compared to the industry median at 3.10, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 8.50 compared to the industry median at 11.80. This means it has a lower share price relative to earnings compared to its peers. This could make Capital Bancorp, 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. Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of 2.45%. 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. Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its industry median ratio of 1.11. This could make Capital Bancorp, Inc. less attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. Capital Bancorp, Inc.’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 15.30. This could make Capital Bancorp, Inc. more attractive because the lower P/FCF ratio indicates that Capital Bancorp, 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.

Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Central Pacific Financial Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Central Pacific Bank that provides a range of commercial banking products and services to businesses, professionals, and individuals in the United States. The company offers various deposit products and services, including checking, savings and time deposits, cash management and digital banking, trust, and retail brokerage services, as well as money market accounts and certificates of deposit. It also provides various lending activities, such as commercial, industrial, commercial real estate, and residential mortgage, home equity, and consumer loans; and other products and services comprising debit cards, internet and mobile banking, full-service ATMs, safe deposit boxes, international banking services, night depository facilities, foreign exchange, and wire transfers. In addition, the company offers wealth management products and services that include non-deposit investment products, annuities, insurance, investment management, asset custody and general consultation, financial advisory, and estate planning services. Central Pacific Financial Corp. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. has a Value Score of 76, which is considered to be undervalued.

Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.7 compared to the industry median at 11.8. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Central Pacific Financial Corp. more attractive for value investors.

Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Central Pacific Financial Corp. more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.11.

You can read more about Central Pacific Financial 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.

Origin Bancorp, Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Origin Bancorp, Inc. operates as a bank holding company for Origin Bank that provides banking and financial services to small and medium-sized businesses, municipalities, and retail clients in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It provides noninterest and interest-bearing checking accounts, savings deposits, money market accounts, and time deposits; and offers commercial real estate, construction and land development, consumer, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, mortgage warehouse, and residential mortgage loans. The company offers personal and commercial property, and casualty insurance products; and internet banking and voice response information, mobile applications, cash management, business credit cards, overdraft protection, direct deposit, safe deposit boxes, automatic account transfers, peer-to-peer electronic pay solutions, and personal financial management solutions; and mobile and online banking, treasury management, mortgage origination and servicing facilities, commercial and consumer loans, and insurance services. The company was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Ruston, 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.

Origin Bancorp, Inc. has a Value Score of 66, which is considered to be undervalued.

Origin Bancorp, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 17.0 compared to the industry median at 11.8. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Origin Bancorp, Inc. less attractive for value investors.

Origin Bancorp, Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Origin Bancorp, Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.11.

You can read more about Origin 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.

Oak Valley Bancorp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Oak Valley Bancorp operates as the bank holding company for Oak Valley Community Bank that provides a range of commercial banking services to individuals and small to medium-sized businesses in the Central Valley and the Eastern Sierras. The company’s deposits products include checking and savings, money market, health savings, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. It also provides commercial real estate loans, commercial business lending and trade finance, and small business administration lending, as well as consumer loans, including automobile loans, home mortgages, credit lines, and other personal loans. In addition, the company offers Internet, online, and mobile banking services; automated teller machines; and remote deposit capture, merchant, night depository, extended hours, wire transfer of funds, and note collection services. Oak Valley Bancorp was incorporated in 1990 and is headquartered in Oakdale, 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.

Oak Valley Bancorp has a Value Score of 63, which is considered to be undervalued.

Oak Valley Bancorp’s price-earnings ratio is 11.3 compared to the industry median at 11.8. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Oak Valley Bancorp more attractive for value investors.

Oak Valley Bancorp’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Oak Valley Bancorp more attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.11.

You can read more about Oak Valley Bancorp’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. operates as the bank holding company for Peoples Bank that provides various banking products and services for individuals and small-to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit products. It also originates commercial real estate loans, commercial loans, construction and land development loans, single-family residential mortgage loans, as well as agricultural loans. In addition, the company provides investment counseling and non-deposit investment products, such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, tax deferred annuities, and related brokerage services; and real estate appraisal and brokerage services. Further, it operates as a clearinghouse for the provision of appraisal services for community banks; and acquires, manages, and disposes of real property, other collateral, and other assets obtained in the ordinary course of collecting debts. The company was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Newton, North Carolina.

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 76, which is considered to be undervalued.

Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.5 compared to the industry median at 11.8. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. more 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 1.11.

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.

Peoples Bancorp Inc.’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Peoples Bancorp Inc. operates as the financial holding company for Peoples Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking products and services. The company accepts various deposit products, including demand deposit accounts, savings accounts, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and governmental deposits; and provides commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, construction, finance, residential real estate, and consumer indirect and direct loans, as well as home equity lines of credit and overdrafts. It also offers debit and automated teller machine (ATM) cards; safe deposit rental facilities; money orders and cashier’s checks; and online, telephone, and mobile banking services. In addition, it provides various life, health, and property and casualty insurance products; third-party insurance administration; interactive teller machines; insurance premium financing; commercial and technology equipment leasing; fiduciary and trust; equipment financing agreements; and asset management and administration services, as well as employee benefit, retirement, and healthcare plan administration services. Further, the company offers brokerage services through an unaffiliated registered broker-dealer; and credit cards to individuals and businesses, as well as merchant credit card transaction processing, and person-to-person and business-to-business payment processing services. Peoples Bancorp Inc. was founded in 1902 and is based in Marietta, Ohio.

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 Inc. has a Value Score of 80, which is considered to be undervalued.

Peoples Bancorp Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 10.6 compared to the industry median at 11.8. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Peoples Bancorp Inc. more attractive for value investors.

Peoples Bancorp Inc.’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Peoples Bancorp Inc. less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.11.

You can read more about Peoples 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 6 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.

• Capital Bancorp, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of A.
• Central Pacific Financial Corp. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Origin Bancorp, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Oak Valley Bancorp stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Peoples Bancorp of North Carolina, Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.
• Peoples Bancorp Inc. stock has a Value Grade of B.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 6 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.

• 6 Undervalued Banks Stocks for Wednesday, March 18
• 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.