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AB or CNS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Investment Management sector might want to consider either AllianceBernstein (AB - Free Report) or Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, AllianceBernstein is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cohen & Steers Inc has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AB is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

AB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.76, while CNS has a forward P/E of 25.95. We also note that AB has a PEG ratio of 1.64. 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. CNS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.55.

Another notable valuation metric for AB is its P/B ratio of 2.31. 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, CNS has a P/B of 7.61.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AB's Value grade of B and CNS's Value grade of F.

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


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AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) - free report >>

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