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ASGN or EPAM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Computers - IT Services sector have probably already heard of ASGN Inc (ASGN - Free Report) and Epam (EPAM - 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 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.

Right now, ASGN Inc is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Epam has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ASGN likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than EPAM has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

ASGN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.23, while EPAM has a forward P/E of 39.92. We also note that ASGN has a PEG ratio of 0.98. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. EPAM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.32.

Another notable valuation metric for ASGN is its P/B ratio of 2.81. 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, EPAM has a P/B of 7.67.

These metrics, and several others, help ASGN earn a Value grade of B, while EPAM has been given a Value grade of C.

ASGN stands above EPAM thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that ASGN is the superior value option right now.


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