Investors looking for stocks in the Consulting Services sector might want to consider either CRA International (CRAI) or CoreLogic (CLGX). 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.
Currently, CRA International has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while CoreLogic has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). 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 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 Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.
CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.82, while CLGX has a forward P/E of 21.27. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.22. 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. CLGX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.77.
Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 1.94. 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, CLGX has a P/B of 5.36.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CRAI's Value grade of B and CLGX's Value grade of C.
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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