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ACT vs. AEG: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Insurance - Multi line stocks are likely familiar with Enact Holdings, Inc. (ACT - Free Report) and Aegon NV (AEG - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Enact Holdings, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Aegon NV has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that ACT's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

ACT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.68, while AEG has a forward P/E of 28.64. We also note that ACT has a PEG ratio of 1.01. 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. AEG currently has a PEG ratio of 1.96.

Another notable valuation metric for ACT is its P/B ratio of 1.17. 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, AEG has a P/B of 1.5.

Based on these metrics and many more, ACT holds a Value grade of B, while AEG has a Value grade of C.

ACT sticks out from AEG in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that ACT is the better option right now.

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