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CIXX vs. AXP: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks have likely encountered both CI Financial Corp. and American Express (AXP - 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.

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 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.

CI Financial Corp. and American Express are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CIXX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AXP has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

CIXX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.56, while AXP has a forward P/E of 22.30. We also note that CIXX has a PEG ratio of 1.07. 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. AXP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.65.

Another notable valuation metric for CIXX is its P/B ratio of 3.08. 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, AXP has a P/B of 5.39.

These metrics, and several others, help CIXX earn a Value grade of B, while AXP has been given a Value grade of C.

CIXX 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 CIXX is likely the superior value option right now.


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