Should Value Investors Buy Banco Macro (BMA) Stock?

Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

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 a variety of methods, including tried-and-true valuation metrics, to find these stocks.

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 Banco Macro (BMA). BMA is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), as well as an A grade for Value.

Another notable valuation metric for BMA is its P/B ratio of 0.68. 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 stock's P/B looks attractive against its industry's average P/B of 1.38. Over the past year, BMA's P/B has been as high as 3.58 and as low as 0.46, with a median of 1.05.

Value investors also love the P/S ratio, which is calculated by simply dividing a stock's price with the company's sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. BMA has a P/S ratio of 0.49. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.15.

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

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