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CIO vs. LSI: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks are likely familiar with City Office REIT (CIO - Free Report) and Life Storage . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.

Right now, both City Office REIT and Life Storage are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

CIO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.43, while LSI has a forward P/E of 24.56. We also note that CIO has a PEG ratio of 2.07. 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. LSI currently has a PEG ratio of 6.76.

Another notable valuation metric for CIO is its P/B ratio of 2.68. 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, LSI has a P/B of 3.74.

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

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


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