Investors looking for stocks in the Consulting Services sector might want to consider either CRA International (CRAI) or Equifax (EFX). 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
CRA International and Equifax are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CRAI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
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.
Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.
CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 26.41, while EFX has a forward P/E of 35.90. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.65. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. EFX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.24.
Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 6.26. 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, EFX has a P/B of 6.57.
Based on these metrics and many more, CRAI holds a Value grade of B, while EFX has a Value grade of D.
CRAI has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than EFX, so it seems like value investors will conclude that CRAI is the superior option right now.
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