MFC vs. BRP: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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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 presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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.

Manulife Financial and BRP Group are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that MFC's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

MFC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.73, while BRP has a forward P/E of 20.19. We also note that MFC has a PEG ratio of 0.77. 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. BRP currently has a PEG ratio of 0.84.

Another notable valuation metric for MFC is its P/B ratio of 1.12. 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 2.44.

These metrics, and several others, help MFC earn a Value grade of A, while BRP has been given a Value grade of D.

MFC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that MFC is likely 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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