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EWBC or BOH: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - West sector have probably already heard of East West Bancorp (EWBC - Free Report) and Bank of Hawaii (BOH - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, East West Bancorp is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Bank of Hawaii has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that EWBC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BOH has recently. 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.

EWBC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.67, while BOH has a forward P/E of 15.38. We also note that EWBC has a PEG ratio of 0.87. 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 1.92.

Another notable valuation metric for EWBC is its P/B ratio of 1.85. 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, BOH has a P/B of 2.69.

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

EWBC 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 EWBC is likely the superior value option right now.


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

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