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HCKT vs. ACN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Consulting Services stocks have likely encountered both Hackett Group (HCKT - 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.

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.

Currently, both Hackett Group and Accenture are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.

HCKT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.38, while ACN has a forward P/E of 25.89. We also note that HCKT has a PEG ratio of 0.86. 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 2.59.

Another notable valuation metric for HCKT is its P/B ratio of 4.05. 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, ACN has a P/B of 8.38.

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

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


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