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BMO or SVNLY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Foreign sector have probably already heard of Bank of Montreal (BMO - Free Report) and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ (SVNLY - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, both Bank of Montreal and Svenska Handelsbanken Ab Publ are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

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.

BMO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.40, while SVNLY has a forward P/E of 12.07. We also note that BMO has a PEG ratio of 1. 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. SVNLY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.07.

Another notable valuation metric for BMO is its P/B ratio of 1.27. 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, SVNLY has a P/B of 1.34.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BMO's Value grade of B and SVNLY's Value grade of C.

Both BMO and SVNLY are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that BMO is the superior value option right now.


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