HSBC vs. UOVEY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Foreign sector might want to consider either HSBC (HSBC) or United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOVEY). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

HSBC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while United Overseas Bank Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This means that HSBC's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

HSBC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.95, while UOVEY has a forward P/E of 10.07. We also note that HSBC has a PEG ratio of 1.39. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. UOVEY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.06.

Another notable valuation metric for HSBC is its P/B ratio of 1.07. 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. By comparison, UOVEY has a P/B of 1.25.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HSBC's Value grade of B and UOVEY's Value grade of D.

HSBC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that HSBC is likely the superior value option right now.

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

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