Investors with an interest in Insurance - Life Insurance stocks have likely encountered both Lincoln National (LNC) and The Baldwin Insurance Group (BWIN). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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.
Lincoln National and The Baldwin Insurance Group are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that LNC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than BWIN has recently. 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.
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.
LNC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.21, while BWIN has a forward P/E of 32.38. We also note that LNC has a PEG ratio of 0.31. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. BWIN currently has a PEG ratio of 0.97.
Another notable valuation metric for LNC is its P/B ratio of 0.74. 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, BWIN has a P/B of 5.55.
Based on these metrics and many more, LNC holds a Value grade of A, while BWIN has a Value grade of F.
LNC sticks out from BWIN in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that LNC is the better option right now.
Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"
Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.
This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.
Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpLincoln National Corporation (LNC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Baldwin Insurance Group, Inc. (BWIN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
