Investors interested in Consulting Services stocks are likely familiar with Information Services Group (III) and Equifax (EFX). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.
Right now, Information Services Group is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Equifax has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that III'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.
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.
III currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.47, while EFX has a forward P/E of 33.18. We also note that III has a PEG ratio of 0.84. 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. EFX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.74.
Another notable valuation metric for III is its P/B ratio of 1.87. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, EFX has a P/B of 6.22.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to III's Value grade of A and EFX's Value grade of D.
III 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 III is likely the superior value option right now.
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Information Services Group, Inc. (III): Free Stock Analysis Report Equifax, Inc. (EFX): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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