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TU vs. BCE: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Diversified Communication Services sector might want to consider either Telus (TU - Free Report) or BCE (BCE - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Telus and BCE 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 TU is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

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.

TU currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.86, while BCE has a forward P/E of 17.42. We also note that TU has a PEG ratio of 2.51. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. BCE currently has a PEG ratio of 4.44.

Another notable valuation metric for TU is its P/B ratio of 2.66. 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, BCE has a P/B of 3.41.

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

TU has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than BCE, so it seems like value investors will conclude that TU is the superior option right now.


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