FHI vs. CNS: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Management stocks have likely encountered both Federated Hermes (FHI) and Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Federated Hermes has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Cohen & Steers Inc has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that FHI'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 analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

FHI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.12, while CNS has a forward P/E of 25.21. We also note that FHI has a PEG ratio of 0.74. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. CNS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.47.

Another notable valuation metric for FHI is its P/B ratio of 3.76. 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. By comparison, CNS has a P/B of 7.22.

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

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

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

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