Are These Finance Stocks Undervalued Right Now?

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.

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 rely on traditional forms of analysis on key valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are undervalued, leaving room for profits.

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.

One stock to keep an eye on is BGC Partners (NASDAQ:BGCP). BGCP is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and an A for Value. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 6.85, while its industry has an average P/E of 14.18. Over the past year, BGCP's Forward P/E has been as high as 9.53 and as low as 5.06, with a median of 7.57.

Another valuation metric that we should highlight is BGCP's P/B ratio of 2.64. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. BGCP's current P/B looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/B of 2.70. Over the past year, BGCP's P/B has been as high as 3.11 and as low as 1.62, with a median of 2.53.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. BGCP has a P/S ratio of 0.87. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 2.06.

Finally, investors should note that BGCP has a P/CF ratio of 8.91. This data point considers a firm's operating cash flow and is frequently used to find companies that are undervalued when considering their solid cash outlook. BGCP's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 17.93. BGCP's P/CF has been as high as 15.19 and as low as 6.35, with a median of 12.63, all within the past year.

Another great Financial - Investment Bank stock you could consider is Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Shares of Morgan Stanley are currently trading at a forward earnings multiple of 13.49 and a PEG ratio of 1.92 compared to its industry's P/E and PEG ratios of 14.18 and 0.89, respectively.

MS's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 14.58 and as low as 11.69, with a median of 13.29, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 2.30 and as low as 1.17, with a median of 1.95, all within the past year.

Additionally, Morgan Stanley has a P/B ratio of 1.79 while its industry's price-to-book ratio sits at 2.70. For MS, this valuation metric has been as high as 1.92, as low as 1.30, with a median of 1.65 over the past year.

These are only a few of the key metrics included in BGC Partners and Morgan Stanley strong Value grade, but they help show that the stocks are likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, BGCP and MS look like an impressive value stock at the moment.

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