AMG or CNS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Financial - Investment Management stocks have likely encountered both Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) and Cohen & Steers Inc (CNS). 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, both Affiliated Managers Group and Cohen & Steers Inc are sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. 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.

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.

AMG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.15, while CNS has a forward P/E of 23.40. We also note that AMG has a PEG ratio of 0.55. 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. CNS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.01.

Another notable valuation metric for AMG is its P/B ratio of 2.4. 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, CNS has a P/B of 6.73.

These metrics, and several others, help AMG earn a Value grade of A, while CNS has been given a Value grade of F.

Both AMG and CNS are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that AMG is the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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