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NMR vs. AMTD: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Bank stocks have likely encountered both Nomura Holdings (NMR - Free Report) and TD Ameritrade (AMTD - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Nomura Holdings has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while TD Ameritrade has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that NMR's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

NMR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.71, while AMTD has a forward P/E of 14.97. We also note that NMR has a PEG ratio of 0.11. 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. AMTD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.09.

Another notable valuation metric for NMR is its P/B ratio of 0.62. 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, AMTD has a P/B of 2.84.

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

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


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