CX or VMC: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Building Products - Concrete and Aggregates sector might want to consider either Cemex (CX) or Vulcan Materials (VMC). 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 Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Cemex has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Vulcan Materials has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than VMC has recently. 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 Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

CX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.05, while VMC has a forward P/E of 33.90. We also note that CX has a PEG ratio of 1.16. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. VMC currently has a PEG ratio of 2.34.

Another notable valuation metric for CX is its P/B ratio of 1.06. 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, VMC has a P/B of 4.31.

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

CX 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 CX 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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