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EBKDY vs. SMFG: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Banks - Foreign stocks are likely familiar with Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY - Free Report) and Sumitomo Mitsui (SMFG - 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Erste Group Bank AG has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Sumitomo Mitsui has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that EBKDY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

EBKDY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.25, while SMFG has a forward P/E of 9.07. We also note that EBKDY has a PEG ratio of 0.68. 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. SMFG currently has a PEG ratio of 1.44.

Another notable valuation metric for EBKDY is its P/B ratio of 0.59. 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, SMFG has a P/B of 0.60.

Based on these metrics and many more, EBKDY holds a Value grade of B, while SMFG has a Value grade of C.

EBKDY sticks out from SMFG in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that EBKDY is the better option right now.


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Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc (SMFG) - free report >>

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