Back to top

Image: Bigstock

CIXX vs. MCO: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with CI Financial Corp. and Moody's (MCO - Free Report) . 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

CI Financial Corp. and Moody's are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CIXX has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

CIXX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.12, while MCO has a forward P/E of 32.65. We also note that CIXX has a PEG ratio of 1.14. 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 2.97.

Another notable valuation metric for CIXX is its P/B ratio of 3.66. 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, MCO has a P/B of 28.28.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CIXX's Value grade of B and MCO's Value grade of D.

CIXX has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than MCO, so it seems like value investors will conclude that CIXX is the superior option right now.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Moody's Corporation (MCO) - free report >>

Published in