BAP or HDB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

HDB BAP

Investors interested in Banks - Foreign stocks are likely familiar with Credicorp (BAP - Free Report) and HDFC Bank (HDB - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Credicorp has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while HDFC Bank has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BAP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

BAP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.41, while HDB has a forward P/E of 23.91. We also note that BAP has a PEG ratio of 0.75. 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. HDB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.50.

Another notable valuation metric for BAP is its P/B ratio of 1.36. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, HDB has a P/B of 2.34.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BAP's Value grade of B and HDB's Value grade of D.

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

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