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III or EFX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of Information Services Group (III - Free Report) and Equifax (EFX - 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 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.

Information Services Group has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Equifax has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that III likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EFX has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

III currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.19, while EFX has a forward P/E of 25.08. We also note that III has a PEG ratio of 0.88. 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. EFX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14.

Another notable valuation metric for III is its P/B ratio of 2.97. 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, EFX has a P/B of 5.45.

Based on these metrics and many more, III holds a Value grade of A, while EFX has a Value grade of C.

III 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 III is likely the superior value option right now.


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