Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of CRA International (CRAI) and Equifax (EFX). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

CRA International and Equifax are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), 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 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.

CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 22.23, while EFX has a forward P/E of 30.70. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.39. 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 2.69.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 5.51. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, EFX has a P/B of 6.07.

Based on these metrics and many more, CRAI holds a Value grade of A, while EFX has a Value grade of D.

CRAI is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that CRAI is likely the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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