CIB or ITT: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Diversified Operations stocks are likely familiar with Grupo Cibest (CIB) and ITT (ITT). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. 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.

Grupo Cibest has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while ITT has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CIB has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

CIB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.47, while ITT has a forward P/E of 27.90. We also note that CIB has a PEG ratio of 0.95. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. ITT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.90.

Another notable valuation metric for CIB is its P/B ratio of 2.15. 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, ITT has a P/B of 4.3.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CIB's Value grade of B and ITT's Value grade of D.

CIB 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 CIB is likely the superior value option right now.