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PINC or HQY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Medical Services stocks are likely familiar with Premier, Inc. (PINC - Free Report) and HealthEquity (HQY - Free Report) . 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Premier, Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while HealthEquity has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that PINC is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

PINC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.10, while HQY has a forward P/E of 52.61. We also note that PINC has a PEG ratio of 2.05. 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. HQY currently has a PEG ratio of 4.11.

Another notable valuation metric for PINC is its P/B ratio of 1.96. 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, HQY has a P/B of 4.39.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PINC's Value grade of B and HQY's Value grade of D.

PINC 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 PINC is likely the superior value option right now.


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