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HCKT vs. ACN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Consulting Services sector might want to consider either Hackett Group (HCKT - Free Report) or Accenture (ACN - 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Hackett Group is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Accenture has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that HCKT likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ACN has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

HCKT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.77, while ACN has a forward P/E of 33.60. We also note that HCKT has a PEG ratio of 1.09. 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. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.36.

Another notable valuation metric for HCKT is its P/B ratio of 3.68. 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, ACN has a P/B of 9.62.

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

HCKT sticks out from ACN in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that HCKT is the better option right now.


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