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EGAN or INFA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Internet - Software sector have probably already heard of eGain (EGAN - Free Report) and Informatica Inc. (INFA - 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 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.

eGain and Informatica Inc. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that EGAN has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

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.

EGAN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.33, while INFA has a forward P/E of 26.91. We also note that EGAN has a PEG ratio of 0.97. 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. INFA currently has a PEG ratio of 3.49.

Another notable valuation metric for EGAN is its P/B ratio of 3.12. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, INFA has a P/B of 3.90.

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

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


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