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BKEAY vs. NRDBY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Foreign sector might want to consider either The Bank of East Asia Ltd. (BKEAY - Free Report) or Nordea Bank AB (NRDBY - 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.

Currently, The Bank of East Asia Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nordea Bank AB has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BKEAY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NRDBY has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

BKEAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.91, while NRDBY has a forward P/E of 11.41. We also note that BKEAY has a PEG ratio of 0.89. 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. NRDBY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88.

Another notable valuation metric for BKEAY is its P/B ratio of 0.34. 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, NRDBY has a P/B of 1.82.

These metrics, and several others, help BKEAY earn a Value grade of A, while NRDBY has been given a Value grade of D.

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

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