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AXS or CINF: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Insurance - Property and Casualty sector might want to consider either Axis Capital (AXS - Free Report) or Cincinnati Financial (CINF - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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.

Axis Capital has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Cincinnati Financial has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that AXS's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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.

AXS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.47, while CINF has a forward P/E of 20.83. We also note that AXS has a PEG ratio of 0.27. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. CINF currently has a PEG ratio of 2.66.

Another notable valuation metric for AXS is its P/B ratio of 1.32. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CINF has a P/B of 1.68.

These metrics, and several others, help AXS earn a Value grade of A, while CINF has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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