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ESRT vs. EGP: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks have likely encountered both Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT - Free Report) and EastGroup Properties (EGP - 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 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.

Empire State Realty Trust and EastGroup Properties are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ESRT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

ESRT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.70, while EGP has a forward P/E of 22.97. We also note that ESRT has a PEG ratio of 1.20. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. EGP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.03.

Another notable valuation metric for ESRT is its P/B ratio of 0.75. 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, EGP has a P/B of 3.90.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to ESRT's Value grade of A and EGP's Value grade of D.

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


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EastGroup Properties, Inc. (EGP) - free report >>

Empire State Realty Trust, Inc. (ESRT) - free report >>

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