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CIO vs. HIW: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in REIT and Equity Trust - Other stocks have likely encountered both City Office REIT (CIO - Free Report) and Highwoods Properties (HIW - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, City Office REIT is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Highwoods Properties has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that CIO is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

CIO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.43, while HIW has a forward P/E of 14.36. We also note that CIO has a PEG ratio of 1.27. 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. HIW currently has a PEG ratio of 4.82.

Another notable valuation metric for CIO is its P/B ratio of 1.71. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, HIW has a P/B of 2.31.

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

CIO 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 CIO is likely the superior value option right now.


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Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW) - free report >>

City Office REIT, Inc. (CIO) - free report >>