HPP vs. EGP: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in stocks from the REIT and Equity Trust - Other sector have probably already heard of Hudson Pacific Properties (HPP) and EastGroup Properties (EGP). 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Hudson Pacific Properties has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while EastGroup Properties has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. This means that HPP's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

HPP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.33, while EGP has a forward P/E of 20.95. We also note that HPP has a PEG ratio of 0.97. 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. EGP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.01.

Another notable valuation metric for HPP is its P/B ratio of 0.19. 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, EGP has a P/B of 3.01.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HPP's Value grade of B and EGP's Value grade of F.

HPP has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than EGP, so it seems like value investors will conclude that HPP is the superior option right now.

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

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