PFE or LLY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals sector have probably already heard of Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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.

Pfizer has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Eli Lilly has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that PFE has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

PFE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.01, while LLY has a forward P/E of 37.33. We also note that PFE has a PEG ratio of 0.89. 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. LLY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.20.

Another notable valuation metric for PFE is its P/B ratio of 1.54. 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, LLY has a P/B of 49.

Based on these metrics and many more, PFE holds a Value grade of A, while LLY has a Value grade of C.

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