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BAH or IT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH - Free Report) and Gartner (IT - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

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, Booz Allen Hamilton has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Gartner has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that BAH's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

BAH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 23.31, while IT has a forward P/E of 43.56. We also note that BAH has a PEG ratio of 1.75. 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. IT currently has a PEG ratio of 3.24.

Another notable valuation metric for BAH is its P/B ratio of 15.51. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, IT has a P/B of 37.66.

These metrics, and several others, help BAH earn a Value grade of B, while IT has been given a Value grade of D.

BAH sticks out from IT in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BAH is the better option right now.


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