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OPI or IRT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential sector have probably already heard of Office Properties Income Trust (OPI - Free Report) and Independence Realty Trust (IRT - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Office Properties Income Trust has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Independence Realty Trust 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 OPI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

OPI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 1.02, while IRT has a forward P/E of 12.23. We also note that OPI has a PEG ratio of 0.09. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. IRT currently has a PEG ratio of 6.12.

Another notable valuation metric for OPI is its P/B ratio of 0.15. 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, IRT has a P/B of 0.86.

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

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


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