OCSL Vs. SLFPY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Financial - Miscellaneous Services sector have probably already heard of Oaktree Specialty Lending (OCSL) and Standard Life (LON:SLA) PLC Unsponsored ADR (SLFPY). 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 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.

Oaktree Specialty Lending and Standard Life PLC Unsponsored ADR are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that OCSL has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

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.

OCSL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.36, while SLFPY has a forward P/E of 17.33. We also note that OCSL has a PEG ratio of 5.18. 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. SLFPY currently has a PEG ratio of 5.97.

Another notable valuation metric for OCSL is its P/B ratio of 0.79. 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, SLFPY has a P/B of 0.98.

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

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