If new, CZ over Stoeger every time. In fact, CZ makes the only budget o/u that won't cost more in the long run. If this is just going to be a field gun and not shoot thousands and thousands of clays a year, that's the way to go.
If you spend some time on Gunbroker, you can find an older Citori, Win 101, and even an SKB in the $750 - $900 range. It's a question of fit. Both the older Win 101 and the pre 725 Citori are by no means a universal fit. For bigger folks the Citoris seem to be fine, though I do not like them at all. The 101 has weird ergonomics. For smaller folks, the Italian guns seem to be a better fit. The CZ/Huglu guns seem to be a good in between. The Uplander is a good budget field gun. Guns made to the sub $700 price point will fail.
Here's a good example of a used older Citori, as an example, albeit 20ga:
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/620643526
And, free of charge, here's the buy of the day (nothing to do with me btw):
http://www.gunbroker.com/item/621124113
Fixed chokes Full/Mod. Mike Orlen can open those to IM/IC (what I would do) or, if there's enough barrel material, fit them for choke tubes ($50 per barrel to open, $55/barrel to fit for tubes). Solid Brescia action, decent Italian maker. Nice looking gun.