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GFN or PRGX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Business - Services stocks have likely encountered both General Finance and PRGX Global . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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

Both General Finance and PRGX Global have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. 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.

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.

GFN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 21.62, while PRGX has a forward P/E of 31.58. We also note that GFN has a PEG ratio of 1.80. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. PRGX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.11.

Another notable valuation metric for GFN is its P/B ratio of 1.58. 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, PRGX has a P/B of 2.84.

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

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

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