Investors looking for stocks in the Insurance - Property and Casualty sector might want to consider either Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. (TKOMY) or W.R. Berkley (WRB). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Right now, Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while W.R. Berkley has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that TKOMY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.
TKOMY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.84, while WRB has a forward P/E of 15.10. We also note that TKOMY has a PEG ratio of 0.59. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. WRB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.83.
Another notable valuation metric for TKOMY is its P/B ratio of 2.05. 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, WRB has a P/B of 2.97.
Based on these metrics and many more, TKOMY holds a Value grade of B, while WRB has a Value grade of C.
TKOMY 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 TKOMY is likely the superior value option right now.
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Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. (TKOMY): Free Stock Analysis Report W.R. Berkley Corporation (WRB): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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