Investors with an interest in Insurance - Property and Casualty stocks have likely encountered both W.R. Berkley (WRB) and Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. (KNSL). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
W.R. Berkley and Kinsale Capital Group, Inc. 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 WRB has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.
WRB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.37, while KNSL has a forward P/E of 23.48. We also note that WRB has a PEG ratio of 1.02. 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. KNSL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.57.
Another notable valuation metric for WRB is its P/B ratio of 2.62. 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, KNSL has a P/B of 6.95.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to WRB's Value grade of A and KNSL's Value grade of D.
WRB sticks out from KNSL in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that WRB is the better option right now.
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