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GEO or EGP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks have likely encountered both Geo Group (GEO - 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.

Geo Group has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while EastGroup Properties has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that GEO likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EGP has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

GEO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.34, while EGP has a forward P/E of 21.23. We also note that GEO has a PEG ratio of 0.43. 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. EGP currently has a PEG ratio of 2.80.

Another notable valuation metric for GEO is its P/B ratio of 1.21. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, EGP has a P/B of 3.23.

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

GEO 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 GEO is likely the superior value option right now.


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

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