Investors with an interest in Food - Miscellaneous stocks have likely encountered both Utz Brands (UTZ) and Mondelez (MDLZ). 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.
Right now, both Utz Brands and Mondelez are sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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 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.
UTZ currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.22, while MDLZ has a forward P/E of 22.52. We also note that UTZ has a PEG ratio of 1.45. 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. MDLZ currently has a PEG ratio of 5.62.
Another notable valuation metric for UTZ is its P/B ratio of 1.23. 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, MDLZ has a P/B of 3.40.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to UTZ's Value grade of B and MDLZ's Value grade of C.
Both UTZ and MDLZ are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that UTZ is the superior value option right now.
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Utz Brands, Inc. (UTZ): Free Stock Analysis Report Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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