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MFC vs. BRP: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Insurance - Life Insurance stocks are likely familiar with Manulife Financial (MFC - Free Report) and BRP Group (BRP - 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.

Manulife Financial has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while BRP Group has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that MFC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BRP has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

MFC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.20, while BRP has a forward P/E of 36.41. We also note that MFC has a PEG ratio of 0.82. 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. BRP currently has a PEG ratio of 0.83.

Another notable valuation metric for MFC is its P/B ratio of 1.10. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, BRP has a P/B of 3.28.

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

MFC stands above BRP thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that MFC is the superior value option right now.


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