FHN vs. CFR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in Banks - Southwest stocks are likely familiar with First Horizon National (FHN) and Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR). 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.

Right now, First Horizon National is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Cullen/Frost Bankers has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that FHN'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 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

FHN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.21, while CFR has a forward P/E of 13.91. We also note that FHN has a PEG ratio of 0.90. 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. CFR currently has a PEG ratio of 2.72.

Another notable valuation metric for FHN is its P/B ratio of 1.34. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CFR has a P/B of 2.04.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to FHN's Value grade of B and CFR's Value grade of C.

FHN stands above CFR thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that FHN is the superior value option right now.

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

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