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BMO vs. RY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Banks - Foreign stocks have likely encountered both Bank of Montreal (BMO - Free Report) and Royal Bank (RY - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, Bank of Montreal is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Royal Bank has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that BMO's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

BMO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.40, while RY has a forward P/E of 11.60. We also note that BMO has a PEG ratio of 0.66. 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. RY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.07.

Another notable valuation metric for BMO is its P/B ratio of 1.60. 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, RY has a P/B of 2.02.

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

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


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