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MS vs. SCHW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Financial - Investment Bank stocks are likely familiar with Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) and The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW - 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.

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.

Morgan Stanley and The Charles Schwab Corporation are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

MS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.11, while SCHW has a forward P/E of 20.61. We also note that MS has a PEG ratio of 1.31. 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. SCHW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.82.

Another notable valuation metric for MS is its P/B ratio of 1.66. 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, SCHW has a P/B of 2.88.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MS's Value grade of B and SCHW's Value grade of F.

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


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