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WF vs. APO: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Management stocks have likely encountered both Woori Bank (WF - Free Report) and Apollo Global Management, LLC (APO - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Woori Bank is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Apollo Global Management, LLC 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 WF has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

WF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.45, while APO has a forward P/E of 10.59. We also note that WF has a PEG ratio of 0.98. 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. APO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.06.

Another notable valuation metric for WF is its P/B ratio of 0.42. 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, APO has a P/B of 2.98.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to WF's Value grade of A and APO's Value grade of D.

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


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