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CIXX vs. MCO: 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 Moody's (MCO - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

CI Financial Corp. and Moody's are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. 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 8.32, while MCO has a forward P/E of 32.47. We also note that CIXX has a PEG ratio of 1.04. 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. MCO currently has a PEG ratio of 3.25.

Another notable valuation metric for CIXX is its P/B ratio of 3.08. 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, MCO has a P/B of 30.15.

Based on these metrics and many more, CIXX holds a Value grade of B, while MCO has a Value grade of F.

Both CIXX and MCO are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CIXX is the superior value option right now.


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