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BKEAY or ITUB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Banks - Foreign stocks are likely familiar with The Bank of East Asia Ltd. (BKEAY - Free Report) and Banco Itau (ITUB - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

The Bank of East Asia Ltd. and Banco Itau are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BKEAY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 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.

BKEAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.63, while ITUB has a forward P/E of 7.12. We also note that BKEAY has a PEG ratio of 0.85. 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. ITUB currently has a PEG ratio of 0.88.

Another notable valuation metric for BKEAY is its P/B ratio of 0.26. 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, ITUB has a P/B of 1.35.

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

BKEAY is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that BKEAY is likely the superior value option right now.


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Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. (ITUB) - free report >>

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