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WF or HDB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Banks - Foreign sector might want to consider either Woori Bank (WF - Free Report) or HDFC Bank (HDB - 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.

Currently, Woori Bank has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while HDFC Bank has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that WF'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 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

WF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 2.42, while HDB has a forward P/E of 23.77. We also note that WF has a PEG ratio of 0.18. 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. HDB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.36.

Another notable valuation metric for WF is its P/B ratio of 0.32. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, HDB has a P/B of 3.94.

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

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


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