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EWBC vs. BOH: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Banks - West stocks are likely familiar with East West Bancorp (EWBC - Free Report) and Bank of Hawaii (BOH - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, both East West Bancorp and Bank of Hawaii are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). 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. 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 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.

EWBC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.16, while BOH has a forward P/E of 18.82. We also note that EWBC has a PEG ratio of 1.42. 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. BOH currently has a PEG ratio of 2.35.

Another notable valuation metric for EWBC is its P/B ratio of 1.56. 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, BOH has a P/B of 2.39.

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

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


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Bank of Hawaii Corporation (BOH) - free report >>

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