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ATH vs. MFC: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Zacks Equity Research
·2-min read

Investors with an interest in Insurance - Life Insurance stocks have likely encountered both Athene Holding Ltd. (ATH) and Manulife Financial (MFC). 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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Currently, Athene Holding Ltd. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Manulife Financial has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ATH likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than MFC has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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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.

ATH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 3.69, while MFC has a forward P/E of 5.40. We also note that ATH has a PEG ratio of 0.37. 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. MFC currently has a PEG ratio of 2.70.

Another notable valuation metric for ATH is its P/B ratio of 0.33. 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, MFC has a P/B of 0.67.

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

ATH stands above MFC thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that ATH is the superior value option right now.


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Athene Holding Ltd. (ATH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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