Yahoo Finance CI vs. HUM: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
Investors with an interest in Medical - HMOs stocks have likely encountered both Cigna (CI) and Humana (HUM). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Cigna and Humana 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 CI 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 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.
CI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.78, while HUM has a forward P/E of 19.54. We also note that CI has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. HUM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.84.
Another notable valuation metric for CI is its P/B ratio of 2.29. 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, HUM has a P/B of 2.36.
Based on these metrics and many more, CI holds a Value grade of A, while HUM has a Value grade of C.
CI sticks out from HUM in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that CI is the better option right now.
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Cigna Group (CI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Humana Inc. (HUM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
