Investors with an interest in Media Conglomerates stocks have likely encountered both Versant (VSNT) and Pearson (PSO). 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.
Versant and Pearson are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong 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 VSNT has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
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.
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.
VSNT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.13, while PSO has a forward P/E of 17.43. We also note that VSNT has a PEG ratio of 0.73. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. PSO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.43.
Another notable valuation metric for VSNT is its P/B ratio of 0.62. 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, PSO has a P/B of 2.11.
Based on these metrics and many more, VSNT holds a Value grade of A, while PSO has a Value grade of C.
VSNT sticks out from PSO in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that VSNT is the better option right now.
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Versant Media Group, Inc. (VSNT): Free Stock Analysis Report
Pearson, PLC (PSO): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).