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WEX or V: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial Transaction Services stocks have likely encountered both Wex (WEX - Free Report) and Visa (V - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Wex has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Visa has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that WEX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than V has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

WEX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.87, while V has a forward P/E of 26.92. We also note that WEX has a PEG ratio of 1.04. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. V currently has a PEG ratio of 1.83.

Another notable valuation metric for WEX is its P/B ratio of 4.94. 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, V has a P/B of 12.63.

Based on these metrics and many more, WEX holds a Value grade of A, while V has a Value grade of C.

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


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