Investors interested in Manufacturing - Tools & Related Products stocks are likely familiar with Core & Main (CNM) and Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.
The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.
Currently, both Core & Main and Lincoln Electric Holdings are holding a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have 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.
Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.
CNM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.46, while LECO has a forward P/E of 25.23. We also note that CNM has a PEG ratio of 1.53. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. LECO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.68.
Another notable valuation metric for CNM is its P/B ratio of 4.18. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, LECO has a P/B of 9.78.
Based on these metrics and many more, CNM holds a Value grade of B, while LECO has a Value grade of D.
Both CNM and LECO are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CNM is the superior value option right now.
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