IKTSY vs. VRSK: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Business - Information Services stocks are likely familiar with INTERTEK GP (IKTSY) and Verisk Analytics (VRSK). 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.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, INTERTEK GP has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Verisk Analytics has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IKTSY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than VRSK has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

IKTSY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.66, while VRSK has a forward P/E of 40.74. We also note that IKTSY has a PEG ratio of 2.70. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. VRSK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.44.

Another notable valuation metric for IKTSY is its P/B ratio of 5.70. 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, VRSK has a P/B of 408.09.

Based on these metrics and many more, IKTSY holds a Value grade of B, while VRSK has a Value grade of D.

IKTSY has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than VRSK, so it seems like value investors will conclude that IKTSY is the superior option right now.

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INTERTEK GP (IKTSY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Verisk Analytics, Inc. (VRSK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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