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CRAI or ACN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Consulting Services stocks are likely familiar with CRA International (CRAI - Free Report) and Accenture (ACN - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

CRA International and Accenture are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CRAI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.10, while ACN has a forward P/E of 30.35. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.47. 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. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 3.03.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 2.56. 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, ACN has a P/B of 8.92.

These metrics, and several others, help CRAI earn a Value grade of A, while ACN has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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