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IFS vs. BAM: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks have likely encountered both Intercorp Financial Services Inc. (IFS - Free Report) and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM - 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.

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.

Intercorp Financial Services Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Brookfield Asset Management has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that IFS 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 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

IFS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.74, while BAM has a forward P/E of 38.52. We also note that IFS has a PEG ratio of 0.36. 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. BAM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.20.

Another notable valuation metric for IFS is its P/B ratio of 1.42. 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, BAM has a P/B of 11.16.

Based on these metrics and many more, IFS holds a Value grade of A, while BAM has a Value grade of F.

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


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Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) - free report >>

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