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FIVN vs. FFIV: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Internet - Software stocks have likely encountered both Five9 (FIVN - Free Report) and F5 Networks (FFIV - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Five9 has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while F5 Networks has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that FIVN has an improving earnings outlook. 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.

FIVN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.99, while FFIV has a forward P/E of 18.15. We also note that FIVN has a PEG ratio of 0.37. 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. FFIV currently has a PEG ratio of 6.75.

Another notable valuation metric for FIVN is its P/B ratio of 1.9. 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, FFIV has a P/B of 4.35.

These metrics, and several others, help FIVN earn a Value grade of A, while FFIV has been given a Value grade of D.

FIVN stands above FFIV thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that FIVN is the superior value option right now.


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