Are Investors Undervaluing Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB) 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, value investing is easily one of the most popular ways to find great stocks in any market environment. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Zacks has developed the innovative Style Scores system to highlight stocks with specific traits. For example, value investors will be interested in stocks with great grades in the "Value" category. When paired with a high Zacks Rank, "A" grades in the Value category are among the strongest value stocks on the market today.

One company to watch right now is Berkshire Hills Bancorp (BHLB). BHLB is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BHLB's P/B ratio of 0.55. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 0.65. Within the past 52 weeks, BHLB's P/B has been as high as 0.98 and as low as 0.29, with a median of 0.47.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. Some people prefer this metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement. This means it could be a truer performance indicator. BHLB has a P/S ratio of 1.25. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.98.

These figures are just a handful of the metrics value investors tend to look at, but they help show that Berkshire Hills Bancorp is likely being undervalued right now. Considering this, as well as the strength of its earnings outlook, BHLB feels like a great value stock at the moment.


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