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AXAHY or ZURVY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Insurance - Multi line sector might want to consider either Axa Sa (AXAHY - Free Report) or Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. (ZURVY - 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Axa Sa has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now. This means that AXAHY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

AXAHY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.42, while ZURVY has a forward P/E of 12.46. We also note that AXAHY has a PEG ratio of 1.50. 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. ZURVY currently has a PEG ratio of 9.89.

Another notable valuation metric for AXAHY is its P/B ratio of 1.37. 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, ZURVY has a P/B of 2.47.

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

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


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