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BMA vs. NABZY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Foreign sector have probably already heard of Banco Macro (BMA - Free Report) and National Australia Bank Ltd. (NABZY - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Banco Macro has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while National Australia Bank Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that BMA has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

BMA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.10, while NABZY has a forward P/E of 18.42. We also note that BMA has a PEG ratio of 0.34. 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. NABZY currently has a PEG ratio of 5.92.

Another notable valuation metric for BMA is its P/B ratio of 1.1. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, NABZY has a P/B of 1.96.

Based on these metrics and many more, BMA holds a Value grade of A, while NABZY has a Value grade of D.

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

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