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ACT or GSHD: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Insurance - Multi line stocks have likely encountered both Enact Holdings, Inc. (ACT - Free Report) and Goosehead Insurance (GSHD - 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.

Enact Holdings, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Goosehead Insurance has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This means that ACT'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 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

ACT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.58, while GSHD has a forward P/E of 61.05. We also note that ACT has a PEG ratio of 2.10. 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. GSHD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.69.

Another notable valuation metric for ACT is its P/B ratio of 1.04. 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, GSHD has a P/B of 1,907.17.

These metrics, and several others, help ACT earn a Value grade of B, while GSHD has been given a Value grade of F.

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


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