Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector have probably already heard of Orix (IX) 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.
We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.
Currently, Orix has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BX has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.
IX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.56, while BX has a forward P/E of 20.81. We also note that IX has a PEG ratio of 0.73. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.32.
Another notable valuation metric for IX is its P/B ratio of 1.16. 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 4.62.
These metrics, and several others, help IX earn a Value grade of A, while BX has been given a Value grade of D.
IX 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 IX is likely the superior value option right now.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).