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PFG vs. TROW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Investment Management sector might want to consider either Principal Financial (PFG - Free Report) or T. Rowe Price (TROW - 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.

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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Both Principal Financial and T. Rowe Price have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. 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.

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.

PFG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.52, while TROW has a forward P/E of 17.70. We also note that PFG has a PEG ratio of 1.43. 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. TROW currently has a PEG ratio of 2.95.

Another notable valuation metric for PFG is its P/B ratio of 1.98. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TROW has a P/B of 2.92.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PFG's Value grade of A and TROW's Value grade of C.

Both PFG and TROW are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that PFG is the superior value option right now.


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T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW) - free report >>

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