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FHB or PUB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Banks - West stocks have likely encountered both First Hawaiian (FHB - Free Report) and Peoples Utah Bancorp . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

Right now, First Hawaiian is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Peoples Utah Bancorp 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 FHB has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

FHB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.15, while PUB has a forward P/E of 17.12. We also note that FHB has a PEG ratio of 1.56. 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. PUB currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14.

Another notable valuation metric for FHB is its P/B ratio of 1.58. 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, PUB has a P/B of 2.48.

These metrics, and several others, help FHB earn a Value grade of B, while PUB has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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