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CPAY vs. MA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Financial Transaction Services sector have probably already heard of Corpay (CPAY - Free Report) and MasterCard (MA - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Both Corpay and MasterCard have a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. 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 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.

CPAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.29, while MA has a forward P/E of 34.15. We also note that CPAY has a PEG ratio of 1.01. 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. MA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.28.

Another notable valuation metric for CPAY is its P/B ratio of 4.98. 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, MA has a P/B of 64.

Based on these metrics and many more, CPAY holds a Value grade of B, while MA has a Value grade of D.

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


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