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VIRT or BX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector might want to consider either Virtu Financial (VIRT - Free Report) or Blackstone Inc. (BX - 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Virtu Financial has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Blackstone Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that VIRT'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 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.

VIRT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.80, while BX has a forward P/E of 33.30. We also note that VIRT has a PEG ratio of 0.46. 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. BX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.25.

Another notable valuation metric for VIRT is its P/B ratio of 3.46. 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, BX has a P/B of 6.15.

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

VIRT 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 VIRT is likely the superior value option right now.


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