AXAHY or PUK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Insurance - Multi line sector have probably already heard of Axa Sa (AXAHY) and Prudential (PUK). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Axa Sa and Prudential are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that AXAHY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

AXAHY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.70, while PUK has a forward P/E of 11.95. We also note that AXAHY has a PEG ratio of 0.41. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. PUK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.33.

Another notable valuation metric for AXAHY is its P/B ratio of 0.78. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, PUK has a P/B of 2.80.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to AXAHY's Value grade of A and PUK's Value grade of C.

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

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