Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of CRA International (CRAI) and Accenture (ACN). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let’s take a closer look.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.
Currently, both CRA International and Accenture are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.
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.
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 14.49, while ACN has a forward P/E of 27.04. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.11. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.62.
Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 1.57. 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, ACN has a P/B of 9.42.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CRAI’s Value grade of A and ACN’s Value grade of D.
Both CRAI and ACN are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CRAI is the superior value option right now.
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