GEN or DUOL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors looking for stocks in the Technology Services sector might want to consider either Gen Digital (GEN) or Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL). 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.

Currently, both Gen Digital and Duolingo, Inc. are holding 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 just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

GEN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.51, while DUOL has a forward P/E of 175.67. We also note that GEN has a PEG ratio of 1.09. 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. DUOL currently has a PEG ratio of 3.91.

Another notable valuation metric for GEN is its P/B ratio of 7.61. 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, DUOL has a P/B of 26.09.

Based on these metrics and many more, GEN holds a Value grade of B, while DUOL has a Value grade of F.

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