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CIO vs. EGP: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the REIT and Equity Trust - Other sector might want to consider either City Office REIT (CIO - Free Report) or EastGroup Properties (EGP - 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.

Currently, City Office REIT has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while EastGroup Properties has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CIO likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EGP has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

CIO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.70, while EGP has a forward P/E of 19.34. We also note that CIO has a PEG ratio of 0.78. 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. EGP currently has a PEG ratio of 2.10.

Another notable valuation metric for CIO is its P/B ratio of 0.34. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, EGP has a P/B of 2.82.

Based on these metrics and many more, CIO holds a Value grade of A, while EGP has a Value grade of D.

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


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EastGroup Properties, Inc. (EGP) - free report >>

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