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JCOM vs. PYPL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Internet - Software stocks have likely encountered both j2 Global and Paypal (PYPL - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, j2 Global has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Paypal has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that JCOM's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst 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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

JCOM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.18, while PYPL has a forward P/E of 58.05. We also note that JCOM has a PEG ratio of 1.77. 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. PYPL currently has a PEG ratio of 2.69.

Another notable valuation metric for JCOM is its P/B ratio of 4.75. 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, PYPL has a P/B of 15.43.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to JCOM's Value grade of B and PYPL's Value grade of D.

JCOM has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than PYPL, so it seems like value investors will conclude that JCOM is the superior option right now.


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