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BSRR or BOH: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Banks - West stocks have likely encountered both Sierra Bancorp (BSRR - Free Report) and Bank of Hawaii (BOH - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 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, Sierra Bancorp is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Bank of Hawaii has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BSRR is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

BSRR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.59, while BOH has a forward P/E of 14.59. We also note that BSRR has a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. BOH currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95.

Another notable valuation metric for BSRR is its P/B ratio of 1.44. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, BOH has a P/B of 2.65.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BSRR's Value grade of B and BOH's Value grade of C.

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


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