BELFB or ROK: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Electronics - Miscellaneous Products stocks have likely encountered both Bel Fuse (BELFB) and Rockwell Automation (ROK). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Bel Fuse has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Rockwell Automation has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that BELFB is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

BELFB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.70, while ROK has a forward P/E of 36.51. We also note that BELFB has a PEG ratio of 1.18. 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. ROK currently has a PEG ratio of 3.65.

Another notable valuation metric for BELFB is its P/B ratio of 3.6. 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, ROK has a P/B of 11.19.

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

BELFB stands above ROK thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that BELFB 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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