ATGE vs. LINC: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in stocks from the Schools sector have probably already heard of Adtalem Global Education (ATGE) and Lincoln Educational Services Corporation (LINC). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Adtalem Global Education has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Lincoln Educational Services Corporation has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ATGE likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than LINC has recently. 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.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

ATGE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.20, while LINC has a forward P/E of 25.33. We also note that ATGE has a PEG ratio of 0.81. 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. LINC currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69.

Another notable valuation metric for ATGE is its P/B ratio of 2.39. 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, LINC has a P/B of 3.53.

Based on these metrics and many more, ATGE holds a Value grade of A, while LINC has a Value grade of C.

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

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

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