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IX vs. BX: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with Orix (IX - Free Report) and Blackstone Inc. (BX - 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.

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.

Right now, Orix is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that IX's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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.

IX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.85, while BX has a forward P/E of 22.26. We also note that IX has a PEG ratio of 0.36. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.93.

Another notable valuation metric for IX is its P/B ratio of 0.83. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, BX has a P/B of 4.

These metrics, and several others, help IX earn a Value grade of A, while BX has been given a Value grade of C.

IX 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 IX is likely the superior value option right now.


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