FTRE vs. ILMN: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics sector have probably already heard of Fortrea Holdings Inc. (FTRE) and Illumina (ILMN). 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Fortrea Holdings Inc. and Illumina are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that FTRE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. 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.

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.

FTRE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.99, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 21.31. We also note that FTRE has a PEG ratio of 0.37. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 1.77.

Another notable valuation metric for FTRE is its P/B ratio of 0.57. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ILMN has a P/B of 6.03.

Based on these metrics and many more, FTRE holds a Value grade of B, while ILMN has a Value grade of C.

FTRE is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that FTRE is likely the superior value option right now.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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