Investors interested in stocks from the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail sector have probably already heard of EPR Properties (EPR) and Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT). 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.
Currently, EPR Properties has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Federal Realty Investment Trust has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that EPR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than FRT has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.
The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.
EPR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.57, while FRT has a forward P/E of 15.11. We also note that EPR has a PEG ratio of 2.17. 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. FRT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.80.
Another notable valuation metric for EPR is its P/B ratio of 1.89. 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, FRT has a P/B of 2.97.
These metrics, and several others, help EPR earn a Value grade of B, while FRT has been given a Value grade of C.
EPR 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 EPR is likely the superior value option right now.
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EPR Properties (EPR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).