Investors interested in Banks - Foreign stocks are likely familiar with Banco Macro (BMA) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.
Banco Macro has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while National Australia Bank Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This means that BMA's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
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 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.
BMA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.26, while NABZY has a forward P/E of 18.07. We also note that BMA has a PEG ratio of 0.57. 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. NABZY currently has a PEG ratio of 6.72.
Another notable valuation metric for BMA is its P/B ratio of 1.37. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, NABZY has a P/B of 1.98.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BMA's Value grade of B and NABZY's Value grade of D.
BMA sticks out from NABZY in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BMA is the better option right now.
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Macro Bank Inc. (BMA): Free Stock Analysis Report
National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).