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BCS vs. NRDBY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Foreign sector have probably already heard of Barclays (BCS - Free Report) and Nordea Bank AB (NRDBY - Free Report) . 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Barclays has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nordea Bank AB 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 BCS 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 analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

BCS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.07, while NRDBY has a forward P/E of 7.68. We also note that BCS has a PEG ratio of 0.65. 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. NRDBY currently has a PEG ratio of 0.74.

Another notable valuation metric for BCS is its P/B ratio of 0.48. 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, NRDBY has a P/B of 1.30.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BCS's Value grade of A and NRDBY's Value grade of D.

BCS has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than NRDBY, so it seems like value investors will conclude that BCS is the superior option right now.


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