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LYG vs. BNS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Banks - Foreign stocks have likely encountered both Lloyds (LYG - Free Report) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS - 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 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.

Lloyds and Bank of Nova Scotia 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 LYG has an improving earnings outlook. 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 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.

LYG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.80, while BNS has a forward P/E of 12.39. We also note that LYG has a PEG ratio of 0.19. 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. BNS currently has a PEG ratio of 0.88.

Another notable valuation metric for LYG is its P/B ratio of 0.64. 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, BNS has a P/B of 1.47.

Based on these metrics and many more, LYG holds a Value grade of B, while BNS has a Value grade of D.

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


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Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) - free report >>

Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (BNS) - free report >>

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