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BCS or BNS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Banks - Foreign sector have probably already heard of Barclays (BCS - Free Report) and Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Barclays has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Bank of Nova Scotia has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BCS 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 are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

BCS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.58, while BNS has a forward P/E of 9.34. We also note that BCS has a PEG ratio of 0.44. 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. BNS currently has a PEG ratio of 1.49.

Another notable valuation metric for BCS is its P/B ratio of 0.46. 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, BNS has a P/B of 1.36.

Based on these metrics and many more, BCS holds a Value grade of A, while BNS has a Value grade of F.

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


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