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AMP or PS: 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 Ameriprise Financial Services (AMP - Free Report) or Pershing Square (PS - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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

Right now, Ameriprise Financial Services is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Pershing Square 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 AMP has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

AMP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.19, while PS has a forward P/E of 70.64. We also note that AMP has a PEG ratio of 0.76. 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. PS currently has a PEG ratio of 4.05.

Another notable valuation metric for AMP is its P/B ratio of 7.94. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, PS has a P/B of 11.33.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AMP's Value grade of A and PS's Value grade of F.

AMP has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than PS, so it seems like value investors will conclude that AMP is the superior option right now.

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