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EBKDY or NABZY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Foreign sector have probably already heard of Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY - Free Report) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. 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.

Right now, Erste Group Bank AG is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while National Australia Bank Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that EBKDY has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

EBKDY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.74, while NABZY has a forward P/E of 12.19. We also note that EBKDY has a PEG ratio of 0.51. 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. NABZY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.90.

Another notable valuation metric for EBKDY is its P/B ratio of 0.57. 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, NABZY has a P/B of 1.33.

These metrics, and several others, help EBKDY earn a Value grade of B, while NABZY has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY) - free report >>

Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY) - free report >>

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