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ATCO or BLK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Management stocks have likely encountered both Atlas and BlackRock (BLK - 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.

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.

Right now, Atlas is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while BlackRock has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ATCO likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BLK 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 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.

ATCO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.56, while BLK has a forward P/E of 18.19. We also note that ATCO has a PEG ratio of 0.31. 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. BLK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.65.

Another notable valuation metric for ATCO is its P/B ratio of 1.15. 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, BLK has a P/B of 3.20.

These metrics, and several others, help ATCO earn a Value grade of A, while BLK has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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