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THG vs. ALL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Insurance - Property and Casualty sector have probably already heard of Hanover Insurance Group (THG - Free Report) and Allstate (ALL - 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.

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.

Hanover Insurance Group and Allstate are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that THG has 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 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.

THG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.72, while ALL has a forward P/E of 19.45. We also note that THG has a PEG ratio of 0.37. 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. ALL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.78.

Another notable valuation metric for THG is its P/B ratio of 2.19. 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, ALL has a P/B of 2.33.

These metrics, and several others, help THG earn a Value grade of A, while ALL has been given a Value grade of C.

THG 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 THG is likely the superior value option right now.


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