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IART vs. EW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Instruments sector have probably already heard of Integra LifeSciences (IART - Free Report) and Edwards Lifesciences (EW - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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.

Integra LifeSciences has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Edwards Lifesciences has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IART likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EW has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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 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.

IART currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.80, while EW has a forward P/E of 42.86. We also note that IART has a PEG ratio of 1.99. 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. EW currently has a PEG ratio of 3.08.

Another notable valuation metric for IART is its P/B ratio of 3.12. 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, EW has a P/B of 11.67.

Based on these metrics and many more, IART holds a Value grade of B, while EW has a Value grade of D.

IART has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than EW, so it seems like value investors will conclude that IART is the superior option right now.


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