JBTM or NPO: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors with an interest in Technology Services stocks have likely encountered both JBT Marel (JBTM) and Enpro (NPO). But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

JBT Marel and Enpro are both sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

JBTM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 21.00, while NPO has a forward P/E of 30.23. We also note that JBTM has a PEG ratio of 1.52. 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. NPO currently has a PEG ratio of 2.02.

Another notable valuation metric for JBTM is its P/B ratio of 1.83. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, NPO has a P/B of 3.64.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to JBTM's Value grade of B and NPO's Value grade of C.

Both JBTM and NPO are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that JBTM is the superior value option right now.

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

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