VIRT vs. MCO: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in Financial - Miscellaneous Services stocks are likely familiar with Virtu Financial (VIRT) and Moody's (MCO). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Virtu Financial has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Moody's has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that VIRT is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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.

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.

VIRT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.31, while MCO has a forward P/E of 26.19. We also note that VIRT has a PEG ratio of 1.36. 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. MCO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.27.

Another notable valuation metric for VIRT is its P/B ratio of 3.44. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, MCO has a P/B of 18.62.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to VIRT's Value grade of B and MCO's Value grade of F.

VIRT 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 VIRT is likely the superior value option right now.

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

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