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.

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 fundamental analysis and traditional valuation metrics to find stocks that they believe are being undervalued by the market at large.

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 company value investors might notice is Financial Institutions (FISI). FISI is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A. The stock is trading with P/E ratio of 6.79 right now. For comparison, its industry sports an average P/E of 9.54. Over the last 12 months, FISI's Forward P/E has been as high as 7.57 and as low as 4.81, with a median of 5.75.

Another notable valuation metric for FISI is its P/B ratio of 0.85. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.36. Over the past year, FISI's P/B has been as high as 1.01 and as low as 0.57, with a median of 0.68.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a popular metric because sales are harder to manipulate on an income statement, so they are often considered a better performance indicator. FISI has a P/S ratio of 1.09. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 1.84.

Finally, our model also underscores that FISI has a P/CF ratio of 5.60. 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. FISI's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 11.66. Over the past year, FISI's P/CF has been as high as 5.76 and as low as 3.51, with a median of 4.30.

If you're looking for another solid Banks - Northeast value stock, take a look at First United (FUNC). FUNC is a # 2 (Buy) stock with a Value score of A.