SAFE or ESS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the REIT and Equity Trust - Residential sector have probably already heard of Safehold (SAFE) and Essex Property Trust (ESS). 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Safehold has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Essex Property Trust has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that SAFE likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ESS has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

SAFE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.38, while ESS has a forward P/E of 15.62. We also note that SAFE has a PEG ratio of 2.05. 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. ESS currently has a PEG ratio of 7.85.

Another notable valuation metric for SAFE is its P/B ratio of 0.44. 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, ESS has a P/B of 2.83.

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

SAFE 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 SAFE 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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