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BBSI vs. PAYX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Outsourcing sector might want to consider either Barrett Business Services (BBSI - Free Report) or Paychex (PAYX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Barrett Business Services and Paychex are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BBSI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PAYX has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

BBSI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.45, while PAYX has a forward P/E of 28.56. We also note that BBSI has a PEG ratio of 1.03. 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. PAYX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.81.

Another notable valuation metric for BBSI is its P/B ratio of 3.84. 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, PAYX has a P/B of 13.80.

These metrics, and several others, help BBSI earn a Value grade of A, while PAYX has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) - free report >>

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