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BBSI or PAYX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Outsourcing stocks are likely familiar with Barrett Business Services (BBSI) and Paychex (PAYX). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Barrett Business Services has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Paychex has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BBSI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PAYX 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.

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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.

BBSI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.52, while PAYX has a forward P/E of 25.67. We also note that BBSI has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. PAYX currently has a PEG ratio of 3.28.

Another notable valuation metric for BBSI is its P/B ratio of 4.01. 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, PAYX has a P/B of 12.36.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BBSI's Value grade of A and PAYX's Value grade of C.

BBSI sticks out from PAYX in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that BBSI is the better option right now.

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Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Paychex, Inc. (PAYX) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research