CSLLY or EXAS: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with CSL Limited Sponsored ADR (CSLLY) and Exact Sciences (EXAS). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, CSL Limited Sponsored ADR is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Exact Sciences has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that CSLLY has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

CSLLY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.52, while EXAS has a forward P/E of 71.29. We also note that CSLLY has a PEG ratio of 1.64. 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. EXAS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.35.

Another notable valuation metric for CSLLY is its P/B ratio of 2.29. 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, EXAS has a P/B of 8.21.

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

CSLLY stands above EXAS thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that CSLLY 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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