SYIEY or RPM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Chemical - Specialty stocks have likely encountered both Symrise AG Unsponsored ADR (SYIEY) and RPM International (RPM). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Symrise AG Unsponsored ADR is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while RPM International has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that SYIEY is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

SYIEY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.68, while RPM has a forward P/E of 20.50. We also note that SYIEY has a PEG ratio of 1.32. 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. RPM currently has a PEG ratio of 1.95.

Another notable valuation metric for SYIEY is its P/B ratio of 2.91. 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, RPM has a P/B of 4.9.

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

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

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

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