Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS) and Blackstone Inc. (BX). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.
There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Right now, Intercorp Financial Services Inc. is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. 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 IFS is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.
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.
IFS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.12, while BX has a forward P/E of 21.08. We also note that IFS has a PEG ratio of 0.30. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.84.
Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.18. 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, BX has a P/B of 4.64.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to IFS's Value grade of B and BX's Value grade of D.
IFS has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than BX, so it seems like value investors will conclude that IFS is the superior option right now.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS): Free Stock Analysis Report Blackstone Inc. (BX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
Zacks Investment Research
