SHG or UOVEY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Foreign sector might want to consider either Shinhan Financial (SHG) or United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOVEY). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 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, Shinhan Financial is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while United Overseas Bank Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SHG likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than UOVEY has recently. 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 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.

SHG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.77, while UOVEY has a forward P/E of 10.06. We also note that SHG has a PEG ratio of 0.50. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. UOVEY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.06.

Another notable valuation metric for SHG is its P/B ratio of 0.49. 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, UOVEY has a P/B of 1.25.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SHG's Value grade of A and UOVEY's Value grade of C.

SHG 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 SHG is likely the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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