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CPAY or MA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial Transaction Services stocks have likely encountered both Corpay (CPAY - Free Report) and MasterCard (MA - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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

Corpay and MasterCard are both sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

CPAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.88, while MA has a forward P/E of 31.16. We also note that CPAY has a PEG ratio of 1.05. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MA currently has a PEG ratio of 1.77.

Another notable valuation metric for CPAY is its P/B ratio of 7.44. 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, MA has a P/B of 96.95.

Based on these metrics and many more, CPAY holds a Value grade of B, while MA has a Value grade of D.

Both CPAY and MA are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CPAY is the superior value option right now.

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