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Investors with an interest in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks have likely encountered both Virtu Financial (VIRT) and Moody's (MCO). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.
Virtu Financial and Moody's are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that VIRT's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.
The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.
VIRT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.54, while MCO has a forward P/E of 33.77. We also note that VIRT has a PEG ratio of 1.27. 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. MCO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.64.
Another notable valuation metric for VIRT is its P/B ratio of 4.02. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, MCO has a P/B of 22.81.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to VIRT's Value grade of B and MCO's Value grade of F.
VIRT stands above MCO thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that VIRT is the superior value option right now.
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Virtu Financial, Inc. (VIRT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Moody's Corporation (MCO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).