HDLMY vs. ROAD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in Building Products - Miscellaneous stocks are likely familiar with Heidelberg Materials AG Unsponsored ADR (HDLMY) and Construction Partners (ROAD). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

Both Heidelberg Materials AG Unsponsored ADR and Construction Partners have a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) right now. 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. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

HDLMY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.53, while ROAD has a forward P/E of 44.00. We also note that HDLMY has a PEG ratio of 0.78. 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. ROAD currently has a PEG ratio of 1.12.

Another notable valuation metric for HDLMY is its P/B ratio of 1.9. 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, ROAD has a P/B of 7.25.

These metrics, and several others, help HDLMY earn a Value grade of B, while ROAD has been given a Value grade of D.

Both HDLMY and ROAD are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that HDLMY 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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