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CXT or TRI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Technology Services sector might want to consider either Crane NXT (CXT - Free Report) or Thomson Reuters (TRI - 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.

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

Currently, Crane NXT has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Thomson Reuters has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CXT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

CXT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.15, while TRI has a forward P/E of 38.39. We also note that CXT has a PEG ratio of 1.90. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. TRI currently has a PEG ratio of 3.26.

Another notable valuation metric for CXT is its P/B ratio of 3.88. 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, TRI has a P/B of 5.20.

These metrics, and several others, help CXT earn a Value grade of A, while TRI has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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