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CIT or OCSL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with CIT Group and Oaktree Specialty Lending (OCSL - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, CIT Group has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Oaktree Specialty Lending has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CIT has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

CIT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.82, while OCSL has a forward P/E of 11.38. We also note that CIT has a PEG ratio of 0.88. 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. OCSL currently has a PEG ratio of 5.69.

Another notable valuation metric for CIT is its P/B ratio of 0.75. 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, OCSL has a P/B of 0.83.

These metrics, and several others, help CIT earn a Value grade of A, while OCSL has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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