TRV Or WRB: Which Is The Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Insurance - Property and Casualty sector have probably already heard of Travelers (TRV) and W.R. Berkley (WRB). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Travelers has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while W.R. Berkley has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that TRV has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

TRV currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.07, while WRB has a forward P/E of 22.09. We also note that TRV has a PEG ratio of 0.95. 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. WRB currently has a PEG ratio of 2.45.

Another notable valuation metric for TRV is its P/B ratio of 1.56. 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, WRB has a P/B of 1.87.

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

TRV stands above WRB thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that TRV is the superior value option right now.