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SNH vs. VTR: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the REIT and Equity Trust - Other sector have probably already heard of Senior Housing Properties and Ventas (VTR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, both Senior Housing Properties and Ventas are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

SNH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.52, while VTR has a forward P/E of 18.86. We also note that SNH has a PEG ratio of 1.88. 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. VTR currently has a PEG ratio of 6.24.

Another notable valuation metric for SNH is its P/B ratio of 0.78. 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, VTR has a P/B of 2.48.

These metrics, and several others, help SNH earn a Value grade of A, while VTR has been given a Value grade of D.

Both SNH and VTR are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that SNH is the superior value option right now.


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