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CRAI or ACN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Consulting Services sector might want to consider either CRA International (CRAI - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.

CRA International and Accenture are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.46, while ACN has a forward P/E of 29.80. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.13. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.98.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 3.23. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ACN has a P/B of 9.48.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CRAI's Value grade of A and ACN's Value grade of D.

Both CRAI and ACN are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CRAI is the superior value option right now.


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