EXEL vs. ARGX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with Exelixis (EXEL) and argenex SE (ARGX). 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.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Exelixis and argenex SE are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that EXEL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether 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.

EXEL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.66, while ARGX has a forward P/E of 43.23. We also note that EXEL has a PEG ratio of 0.79. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ARGX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.

Another notable valuation metric for EXEL is its P/B ratio of 5.54. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ARGX has a P/B of 6.43.

These metrics, and several others, help EXEL earn a Value grade of B, while ARGX has been given a Value grade of C.

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