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AXP vs. MCO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks have likely encountered both American Express (AXP - Free Report) and Moody's (MCO - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

American Express and Moody's are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AXP is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 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.

AXP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.02, while MCO has a forward P/E of 30.62. We also note that AXP has a PEG ratio of 0.97. 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. MCO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.78.

Another notable valuation metric for AXP is its P/B ratio of 4.77. 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, MCO has a P/B of 19.44.

Based on these metrics and many more, AXP holds a Value grade of B, while MCO has a Value grade of F.

AXP has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than MCO, so it seems like value investors will conclude that AXP is the superior option right now.


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