INTR or BX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector might want to consider either Inter & Co. Inc. (INTR) or Blackstone Inc. (BX). 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.

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.

Currently, Inter & Co. Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that INTR is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

INTR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.24, while BX has a forward P/E of 28.53. We also note that INTR has a PEG ratio of 0.38. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.25.

Another notable valuation metric for INTR is its P/B ratio of 2.02. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, BX has a P/B of 5.39.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to INTR's Value grade of A and BX's Value grade of D.

INTR 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 INTR 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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