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LFC vs. BRP: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Insurance - Life Insurance stocks are likely familiar with China Life and BRP Group . 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.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, China Life is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while BRP Group has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that LFC has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

LFC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.91, while BRP has a forward P/E of 22.85. We also note that LFC has a PEG ratio of 0.79. 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. BRP currently has a PEG ratio of 0.89.

Another notable valuation metric for LFC is its P/B ratio of 0.65. 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, BRP has a P/B of 2.22.

Based on these metrics and many more, LFC holds a Value grade of A, while BRP has a Value grade of D.

LFC sticks out from BRP in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that LFC is the better option right now.

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