Investors looking for stocks in the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector might want to consider either Flowserve (FLS) or Nordson (NDSN). 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Right now, Flowserve is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nordson 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 FLS 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 tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.
FLS currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.54, while NDSN has a forward P/E of 21.21. We also note that FLS has a PEG ratio of 1.44. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. NDSN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.63.
Another notable valuation metric for FLS is its P/B ratio of 3.9. 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, NDSN has a P/B of 4.42.
Based on these metrics and many more, FLS holds a Value grade of B, while NDSN has a Value grade of D.
FLS sticks out from NDSN in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that FLS is the better option right now.
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Flowserve Corporation (FLS): Free Stock Analysis Report Nordson Corporation (NDSN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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