Should Value Investors Buy Columbia Banking System (COLB) Stock?

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.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 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.One company to watch right now is Columbia Banking System (COLB). COLB is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock holds a P/E ratio of 7.59, while its industry has an average P/E of 8.78. Over the last 12 months, COLB's Forward P/E has been as high as 11.81 and as low as 7.26, with a median of 9.48.We should also highlight that COLB has a P/B ratio of 0.85. 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. This company's current P/B looks solid when compared to its industry's average P/B of 1.06. Within the past 52 weeks, COLB's P/B has been as high as 1.27 and as low as 0.73, with a median of 1.03.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. COLB has a P/S ratio of 1.48. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.93.Finally, we should also recognize that COLB has a P/CF ratio of 7.18. 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. COLB's current P/CF looks attractive when compared to its industry's average P/CF of 8.35. Within the past 12 months, COLB's P/CF has been as high as 11.97 and as low as 6.40, with a median of 9.43.These are only a few of the key metrics included in Columbia Banking System's strong Value grade, but they help show that the stock is likely undervalued right now. When factoring in the strength of its earnings outlook, COLB looks like an impressive value stock at the moment.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Columbia Banking System, Inc. (COLB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks