MFC or BRP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Insurance - Life Insurance sector might want to consider either Manulife Financial (MFC) or BRP Group (BRP). 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Manulife Financial and BRP Group are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that MFC has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

MFC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.18, while BRP has a forward P/E of 24.04. We also note that MFC has a PEG ratio of 0.82. 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. BRP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.

Another notable valuation metric for MFC is its P/B ratio of 0.96. 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, BRP has a P/B of 2.72.

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

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

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Manulife Financial Corp (MFC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

BRP Group, Inc. (BRP) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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