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BBSI or PAYX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Outsourcing sector might want to consider either Barrett Business Services (BBSI - Free Report) or Paychex (PAYX - 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.

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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Barrett Business Services and Paychex are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BBSI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PAYX has recently. But this is only part of the picture 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.

BBSI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.73, while PAYX has a forward P/E of 27.61. We also note that BBSI has a PEG ratio of 1.31. 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. PAYX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.45.

Another notable valuation metric for BBSI is its P/B ratio of 2.47. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, PAYX has a P/B of 9.78.

Based on these metrics and many more, BBSI holds a Value grade of A, while PAYX has a Value grade of D.

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


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