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EWBC vs. BOH: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Banks - West stocks are likely familiar with East West Bancorp (EWBC - Free Report) and Bank of Hawaii (BOH - 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, both East West Bancorp and Bank of Hawaii are sporting 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. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

EWBC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.25, while BOH has a forward P/E of 13.54. We also note that EWBC has a PEG ratio of 0.92. 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. BOH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69.

Another notable valuation metric for EWBC is its P/B ratio of 1.65. 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, BOH has a P/B of 2.40.

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

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


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Bank of Hawaii Corporation (BOH) - free report >>

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