TRTX or VTMX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Real Estate - Operations sector might want to consider either TPG RE Finance Trust (TRTX) or Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V. Sponsored ADR (VTMX). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, TPG RE Finance Trust has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Corporacion Inmobiliaria Vesta, S.A.B. de C.V. Sponsored ADR has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that TRTX is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

TRTX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.39, while VTMX has a forward P/E of 15.97. We also note that TRTX has a PEG ratio of 2.28. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. VTMX currently has a PEG ratio of 4.15.

Another notable valuation metric for TRTX is its P/B ratio of 0.59. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, VTMX has a P/B of 8.81.

Based on these metrics and many more, TRTX holds a Value grade of B, while VTMX has a Value grade of F.

TRTX has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than VTMX, so it seems like value investors will conclude that TRTX is the superior option right now.

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

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