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Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of CRA International (CRAI) and Gartner (IT). 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.

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.

Currently, CRA International has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Gartner has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CRAI has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

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 27.79, while IT has a forward P/E of 38.89. We also note that CRAI has a PEG ratio of 1.74. 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. IT currently has a PEG ratio of 3.93.

Another notable valuation metric for CRAI is its P/B ratio of 5.62. 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, IT has a P/B of 48.55.

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

CRAI stands above IT thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that CRAI is the superior value option right now.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.