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JHG or CNS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Investment Management sector might want to consider either Janus Henderson Group plc (JHG - Free Report) or Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. 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.

Janus Henderson Group plc has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Cohen & Steers Inc has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that JHG has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

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.

JHG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.41, while CNS has a forward P/E of 18.77. We also note that JHG has a PEG ratio of 1.47. 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. CNS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.84.

Another notable valuation metric for JHG is its P/B ratio of 1.5. 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, CNS has a P/B of 5.17.

These metrics, and several others, help JHG earn a Value grade of B, while CNS has been given 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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