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IBKC vs. CHCO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Southeast sector might want to consider either Iberiabank or City Holding (CHCO - 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.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, both Iberiabank and City Holding are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

IBKC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.88, while CHCO has a forward P/E of 16.01. We also note that IBKC has a PEG ratio of 1.61. 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. CHCO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.

Another notable valuation metric for IBKC is its P/B ratio of 1.26. 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, CHCO has a P/B of 2.39.

Based on these metrics and many more, IBKC holds a Value grade of B, while CHCO has a Value grade of C.

Both IBKC and CHCO are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that IBKC is the superior value option right now.


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