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HT vs. VTR: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks have likely encountered both Hersha Hospitality and Ventas (VTR - 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.

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

Hersha Hospitality and Ventas are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

HT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.98, while VTR has a forward P/E of 16.51. We also note that HT has a PEG ratio of 1.68. 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. VTR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.96.

Another notable valuation metric for HT is its P/B ratio of 0.75. 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, VTR has a P/B of 2.19.

These metrics, and several others, help HT earn a Value grade of A, while VTR has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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