Investors interested in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks are likely familiar with Cousins Properties (CUZ) and EastGroup Properties (EGP). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 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.
Cousins Properties and EastGroup Properties are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CUZ is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.
Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.
CUZ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.65, while EGP has a forward P/E of 20.87. We also note that CUZ has a PEG ratio of 2.09. 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 3.00.
Another notable valuation metric for CUZ is its P/B ratio of 1.03. 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 metrics, and several others, help CUZ earn a Value grade of B, while EGP has been given a Value grade of D.
CUZ sticks out from EGP in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that CUZ is the better option right now.
Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains
Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.
While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.
Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power .
Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.
See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Cousins Properties Incorporated (CUZ): Free Stock Analysis Report
EastGroup Properties, Inc. (EGP): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).