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NMR vs. SCHW: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Bank stocks have likely encountered both Nomura Holdings (NMR - Free Report) and The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, both Nomura Holdings and The Charles Schwab Corporation are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

NMR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.05, while SCHW has a forward P/E of 21.03. We also note that NMR has a PEG ratio of 1.28. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. SCHW currently has a PEG ratio of 1.72.

Another notable valuation metric for NMR is its P/B ratio of 0.60. 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, SCHW has a P/B of 2.42.

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

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


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