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PNC or GS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Investment Bank sector might want to consider either The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc (PNC - Free Report) or Goldman Sachs (GS - 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.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Goldman Sachs has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that PNC has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

PNC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.27, while GS has a forward P/E of 18.21. We also note that PNC has a PEG ratio of 0.96. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. GS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.40.

Another notable valuation metric for PNC is its P/B ratio of 1.45. 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, GS has a P/B of 2.91.

These metrics, and several others, help PNC earn a Value grade of B, while GS has been given a Value grade of D.

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

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