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JHG vs. CNS: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Management stocks have likely encountered both Janus Henderson Group plc (JHG - Free Report) and Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS - 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.

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 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.

Currently, Janus Henderson Group plc has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cohen & Steers Inc has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that JHG is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

JHG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.29, while CNS has a forward P/E of 19.16. We also note that JHG has a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. CNS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88.

Another notable valuation metric for JHG is its P/B ratio of 1.49. 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, CNS has a P/B of 5.28.

Based on these metrics and many more, JHG holds a Value grade of B, while CNS has a Value grade of F.

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

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