Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Foreign sector might want to consider either Bancolombia (CIB) or ICICI Bank Limited (IBN). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.
Bancolombia and ICICI Bank Limited are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that CIB's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
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.
The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.
CIB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.34, while IBN has a forward P/E of 19.81. We also note that CIB has a PEG ratio of 1.04. 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. IBN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.98.
Another notable valuation metric for CIB is its P/B ratio of 2.3. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, IBN has a P/B of 2.79.
These metrics, and several others, help CIB earn a Value grade of A, while IBN has been given a Value grade of D.
CIB has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than IBN, so it seems like value investors will conclude that CIB is the superior option right now.
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BanColombia S.A. (CIB): Free Stock Analysis Report ICICI Bank Limited (IBN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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