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AXP or MCO: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks have likely encountered both American Express (AXP - Free Report) and Moody's (MCO - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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

Right now, American Express is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Moody's has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AXP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

AXP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.19, while MCO has a forward P/E of 35.83. We also note that AXP has a PEG ratio of 1.24. 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. MCO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.06.

Another notable valuation metric for AXP is its P/B ratio of 5.68. 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 20.18.

These metrics, and several others, help AXP earn a Value grade of B, while MCO has been given a Value grade of F.

AXP sticks out from MCO in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that AXP is the better option right now.


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