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BANR vs. HFWA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Savings and Loan sector might want to consider either Banner (BANR - Free Report) or Heritage Financial (HFWA - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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.

Banner and Heritage Financial are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that BANR's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

BANR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.37, while HFWA has a forward P/E of 20.79. We also note that BANR has a PEG ratio of 1.74. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. HFWA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.08.

Another notable valuation metric for BANR is its P/B ratio of 1.68. 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, HFWA has a P/B of 1.97.

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

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


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