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AFYA vs. PWSC: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Schools sector might want to consider either Afya (AFYA - Free Report) or PowerSchool Holdings (PWSC - Free Report) . 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Afya has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while PowerSchool Holdings has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that AFYA likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than PWSC has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

AFYA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.63, while PWSC has a forward P/E of 29.81. We also note that AFYA has a PEG ratio of 0.36. 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. PWSC currently has a PEG ratio of 2.70.

Another notable valuation metric for AFYA is its P/B ratio of 2.44. 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, PWSC has a P/B of 2.67.

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

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


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