Investors with an interest in Medical Services stocks have likely encountered both Pediatrix Medical Group (MD) and HealthEquity (HQY). But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.
Pediatrix Medical Group and HealthEquity are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that MD's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.
Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their 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.
MD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.38, while HQY has a forward P/E of 25.12. We also note that MD has a PEG ratio of 0.88. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. HQY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.24.
Another notable valuation metric for MD is its P/B ratio of 1.45. 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, HQY has a P/B of 3.71.
Based on these metrics and many more, MD holds a Value grade of A, while HQY has a Value grade of D.
MD stands above HQY thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that MD is the superior value option right now.
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Pediatrix Medical Group, Inc. (MD): Free Stock Analysis Report HealthEquity, Inc. (HQY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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