CRAI or ACN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Consulting Services stocks are likely familiar with CRA International (CRAI) and Accenture (ACN). 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

CRA International has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Accenture has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CRAI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ACN has recently. 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.

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.

CRAI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.49, while ACN has a forward P/E of 29.06. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.23. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ACN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.91.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 3.36. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ACN has a P/B of 8.92.

These metrics, and several others, help CRAI earn a Value grade of B, while ACN has been given a Value grade of C.

CRAI 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 CRAI is likely the superior value option right now.

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