Investors with an interest in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks have likely encountered both Host Hotels (HST) and American Tower (AMT). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Currently, Host Hotels has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while American Tower has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that HST has an improving earnings 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 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.
HST currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.19, while AMT has a forward P/E of 15.63. We also note that HST has a PEG ratio of 2.50. 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. AMT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.71.
Another notable valuation metric for HST is its P/B ratio of 2.37. 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, AMT has a P/B of 7.86.
Based on these metrics and many more, HST holds a Value grade of B, while AMT has a Value grade of C.
HST has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AMT, so it seems like value investors will conclude that HST is the superior option right now.
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Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (HST): Free Stock Analysis Report
American Tower Corporation (AMT): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).