Investors with an interest in Utility - Electric Power stocks have likely encountered both NRG Energy (NRG) and Vistra Corp. (VST). 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 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.
NRG Energy and Vistra Corp. are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that NRG'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.
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.
NRG currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.95, while VST has a forward P/E of 30.25. We also note that NRG has a PEG ratio of 1.29. 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. VST currently has a PEG ratio of 2.30.
Another notable valuation metric for NRG is its P/B ratio of 15.58. 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, VST has a P/B of 28.09.
Based on these metrics and many more, NRG holds a Value grade of B, while VST has a Value grade of D.
NRG sticks out from VST in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that NRG is the better option right now.
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NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG): Free Stock Analysis Report Vistra Corp. (VST): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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