SIEGY vs. FAST: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in stocks from the Industrial Services sector have probably already heard of Siemens AG (SIEGY) and Fastenal (FAST). 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Siemens AG and Fastenal are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that SIEGY's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

SIEGY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.31, while FAST has a forward P/E of 44.63. We also note that SIEGY has a PEG ratio of 2.54. 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. FAST currently has a PEG ratio of 4.51.

Another notable valuation metric for SIEGY is its P/B ratio of 3.16. 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, FAST has a P/B of 14.93.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SIEGY's Value grade of B and FAST's Value grade of D.

SIEGY sticks out from FAST in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that SIEGY is the better option right now.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

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

Zacks Investment Research