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

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Investors with an interest in Consulting Services stocks have likely encountered both CRA International (CRAI - Free Report) and 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, CRA International has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Accenture has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that CRAI's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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 16, while ACN has a forward P/E of 26.62. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.03. 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 2.66.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 2.87. 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, ACN has a P/B of 8.61.

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

CRAI is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that CRAI is likely the superior value option right now.


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