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IX vs. PIPR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with Orix (IX - Free Report) and Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR - 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.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Orix and Piper Sandler Companies are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that IX has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

IX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.45, while PIPR has a forward P/E of 16.86. We also note that IX has a PEG ratio of 1.33. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. PIPR currently has a PEG ratio of 1.55.

Another notable valuation metric for IX is its P/B ratio of 1.46. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, PIPR has a P/B of 3.53.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to IX's Value grade of A and PIPR's Value grade of C.

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

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