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PB vs. CFR: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Banks - Southwest stocks are likely familiar with Prosperity Bancshares (PB - Free Report) and Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR - Free Report) . 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, Prosperity Bancshares is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cullen/Frost Bankers 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 PB has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

PB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.93, while CFR has a forward P/E of 19.31. We also note that PB has a PEG ratio of 1.29. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. CFR currently has a PEG ratio of 2.03.

Another notable valuation metric for PB is its P/B ratio of 1.06. 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, CFR has a P/B of 1.91.

Based on these metrics and many more, PB holds a Value grade of B, while CFR has a Value grade of D.

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


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Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) - free report >>

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