QGEN or EXAS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics sector might want to consider either Qiagen (QGEN) or Exact Sciences (EXAS). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 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.

Both Qiagen and Exact Sciences have a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether 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.

QGEN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.46, while EXAS has a forward P/E of 345.69. We also note that QGEN has a PEG ratio of 2.44. 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. EXAS currently has a PEG ratio of 11.81.

Another notable valuation metric for QGEN is its P/B ratio of 3.13. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, EXAS has a P/B of 4.35.

Based on these metrics and many more, QGEN holds a Value grade of B, while EXAS has a Value grade of C.

Both QGEN and EXAS are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that QGEN is the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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