Investors looking for stocks in the Diversified Operations sector might want to consider either Marubeni Corp. (MARUY) or ITT (ITT). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.
Right now, both Marubeni Corp. and ITT are sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. 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 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.
MARUY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.63, while ITT has a forward P/E of 27.71. We also note that MARUY has a PEG ratio of 1.86. 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. ITT currently has a PEG ratio of 2.22.
Another notable valuation metric for MARUY is its P/B ratio of 1.7. 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, ITT has a P/B of 5.38.
Based on these metrics and many more, MARUY holds a Value grade of A, while ITT has a Value grade of D.
Both MARUY and ITT are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that MARUY is the superior value option right now.
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Marubeni Corp. (MARUY): Free Stock Analysis Report ITT Inc. (ITT): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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