Are Investors Undervaluing Alerus Financial (ALRS) Right Now?
The proven Zacks Rank system focuses on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find winning stocks. Nevertheless, we know that our readers all have their own perspectives, so we are always looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong picks.
Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.
On top of the Zacks Rank, investors can also look at our innovative Style Scores system to find stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will want to focus on the "Value" category. Stocks with high Zacks Ranks and "A" grades for Value will be some of the highest-quality value stocks on the market today.
Alerus Financial (ALRS) is a stock many investors are watching right now. ALRS is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 9.08 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.83. Over the last 12 months, ALRS's Forward P/E has been as high as 16.70 and as low as 9.08, with a median of 13.44.
Another valuation metric that we should highlight is ALRS's P/B ratio of 1.22. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 3.09. Within the past 52 weeks, ALRS's P/B has been as high as 1.80 and as low as 1.22, with a median of 1.42.
Finally, investors will want to recognize that ALRS has a P/CF ratio of 6.68. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. ALRS's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 13.70. ALRS's P/CF has been as high as 10.37 and as low as 6.68, with a median of 7.75, all within the past year.
Another great Financial - Miscellaneous Services stock you could consider is StoneX Group (SNEX), which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.
Furthermore, StoneX Group holds a P/B ratio of 1.46 and its industry's price-to-book ratio is 3.09. SNEX's P/B has been as high as 1.61, as low as 1.23, with a median of 1.45 over the past 12 months.
These are only a few of the key metrics included in Alerus Financial and StoneX Group strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, ALRS and SNEX look like an impressive value stock at the moment.
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