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FOUR or V: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Financial Transaction Services stocks are likely familiar with Shift4 Payments (FOUR - Free Report) and Visa (V - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Shift4 Payments is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Visa 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 FOUR has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its 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.

FOUR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.85, while V has a forward P/E of 26.84. We also note that FOUR has a PEG ratio of 0.65. 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. V currently has a PEG ratio of 1.88.

Another notable valuation metric for FOUR is its P/B ratio of 6.27. 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, V has a P/B of 12.70.

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

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


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Visa Inc. (V) - free report >>

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