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III vs. FC: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Consulting Services stocks have likely encountered both Information Services Group (III - Free Report) and Franklin Covey (FC - 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, Information Services Group has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Franklin Covey has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that III likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than FC has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

III currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.88, while FC has a forward P/E of 39.17. We also note that III has a PEG ratio of 1.08. 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. FC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.57.

Another notable valuation metric for III is its P/B ratio of 3.41. 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, FC has a P/B of 7.31.

Based on these metrics and many more, III holds a Value grade of B, while FC has a Value grade of C.

III has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than FC, so it seems like value investors will conclude that III is the superior option right now.


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