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BBSI vs. PAYX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors with an interest in Outsourcing stocks have likely encountered both Barrett Business Services (BBSI) and Paychex (PAYX). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Barrett Business Services and Paychex are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BBSI 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 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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

BBSI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.66, while PAYX has a forward P/E of 27.04. We also note that BBSI has a PEG ratio of 0.98. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. PAYX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.61.

Another notable valuation metric for BBSI is its P/B ratio of 3.63. 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, PAYX has a P/B of 13.07.

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

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


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Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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