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ATCO vs. BLK: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Investment Management sector have probably already heard of Atlas and BlackRock (BLK - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

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

Atlas and BlackRock are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. This means that ATCO's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

ATCO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.66, while BLK has a forward P/E of 16.32. We also note that ATCO has a PEG ratio of 1.67. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. BLK currently has a PEG ratio of 2.01.

Another notable valuation metric for ATCO is its P/B ratio of 0.71. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, BLK has a P/B of 2.44.

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

ATCO stands above BLK thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that ATCO is the superior value option right now.


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