HAL vs. CLB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in Oil and Gas - Field Services stocks are likely familiar with Halliburton (HAL) and Core Laboratories (CLB). 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.

Halliburton and Core Laboratories are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that HAL 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.

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.

HAL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.14, while CLB has a forward P/E of 24.61. We also note that HAL has a PEG ratio of 2.04. 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. CLB currently has a PEG ratio of 16.86.

Another notable valuation metric for HAL is its P/B ratio of 2.74. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CLB has a P/B of 3.24.

Based on these metrics and many more, HAL holds a Value grade of B, while CLB has a Value grade of C.

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

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

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