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

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Investors with an interest in Banks - Foreign stocks have likely encountered both Erste Group Bank AG (EBKDY - Free Report) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY - 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.

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 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.

Erste Group Bank AG and National Australia Bank Ltd. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that EBKDY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NABZY has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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 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.

EBKDY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.59, while NABZY has a forward P/E of 13.13. We also note that EBKDY has a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. NABZY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.79.

Another notable valuation metric for EBKDY is its P/B ratio of 0.69. 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 1.57.

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

EBKDY stands above NABZY thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that EBKDY is the superior value option right now.


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

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