Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector might want to consider either Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS) or Blackstone Inc. (BX). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Intercorp Financial Services Inc. and Blackstone Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that IFS has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
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.
The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.
IFS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.46, while BX has a forward P/E of 27.46. We also note that IFS has a PEG ratio of 0.35. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.17.
Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.36. 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, BX has a P/B of 5.43.
Based on these metrics and many more, IFS holds a Value grade of A, while BX has a Value grade of C.
IFS 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 IFS is likely the superior value option right now.
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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).
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