Is China Construction Bank (CICHY) Stock Undervalued Right Now?

Here at Zacks, we focus on our proven ranking system, which places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, to find winning stocks. But we also understand that investors develop their own strategies, so we are constantly looking at the latest trends in value, growth, and momentum to find strong companies for our readers.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

China Construction Bank (CICHY) is a stock many investors are watching right now. CICHY is currently sporting a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), as well as a Value grade of A.

Value investors also frequently use the P/S ratio. This metric is found by dividing a stock's price with the company's revenue. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. CICHY has a P/S ratio of 1.56. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.9.

Another great Banks - Foreign stock you could consider is Erste Group Bank (EBKDY), which is a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) stock with a Value Score of A.

Erste Group Bank is currently trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 9.35 while its PEG ratio sits at 0.73. Both of the company's metrics compare favorably to its industry's average P/E of 9.67 and average PEG ratio of 0.60.

EBKDY's price-to-earnings ratio has been as high as 10.29 and as low as 6.23, with a median of 8.45, while its PEG ratio has been as high as 1.26 and as low as 0.69, with a median of 0.95, all within the past year.

Erste Group Bank sports a P/B ratio of 1.08 as well; this compares to its industry's price-to-book ratio of 2.25. In the past 52 weeks, EBKDY's P/B has been as high as 1.14, as low as 0.67, with a median of 0.86.

Value investors will likely look at more than just these metrics, but the above data helps show that China Construction Bank and Erste Group Bank are likely undervalued currently. And when considering the strength of its earnings outlook, CICHY and EBKDY sticks out as one of the market's strongest value stocks.

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China Construction Bank Corp. (CICHY): Free Stock Analysis Report

Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY): Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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