GEHC or A: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Products sector have probably already heard of GE HealthCare Technologies (GEHC) and Agilent Technologies (A). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, GE HealthCare Technologies is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Agilent Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that GEHC has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

GEHC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.81, while A has a forward P/E of 22.47. We also note that GEHC has a PEG ratio of 2.74. 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. A currently has a PEG ratio of 3.90.

Another notable valuation metric for GEHC is its P/B ratio of 3.36. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, A has a P/B of 5.57.

These metrics, and several others, help GEHC earn a Value grade of B, while A has been given a Value grade of C.

GEHC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that GEHC is likely the superior value option right now.

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

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