Investors looking for stocks in the Financial Transaction Services sector might want to consider either Corpay (CPAY) or MasterCard (MA). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.
We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great 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.
Corpay and MasterCard are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CPAY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than MA has recently. 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 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.
CPAY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.55, while MA has a forward P/E of 34.36. We also note that CPAY has a PEG ratio of 1.24. 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. MA currently has a PEG ratio of 2.18.
Another notable valuation metric for CPAY is its P/B ratio of 8.43. 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, MA has a P/B of 60.84.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CPAY's Value grade of B and MA's Value grade of D.
CPAY is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that CPAY is likely the superior value option right now.
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Mastercard Incorporated (MA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
