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 stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 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.
Orix has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that IX is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
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.
Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.
IX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.51, while BX has a forward P/E of 19.39. We also note that IX has a PEG ratio of 1.24. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.25.
Another notable valuation metric for IX is its P/B ratio of 1.37. 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, BX has a P/B of 4.24.
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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Orix Corp Ads (IX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Blackstone Inc. (BX): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).