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APELY or MRCY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Computer - Peripheral Equipment stocks have likely encountered both Alps Electric (APELY - Free Report) and Mercury Systems (MRCY - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Alps Electric has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Mercury Systems has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that APELY has an improving earnings outlook. 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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

APELY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.36, while MRCY has a forward P/E of 27.56. We also note that APELY has a PEG ratio of 0.52. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. MRCY currently has a PEG ratio of 16.02.

Another notable valuation metric for APELY is its P/B ratio of 0.67. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, MRCY has a P/B of 2.01.

Based on these metrics and many more, APELY holds a Value grade of B, while MRCY has a Value grade of F.

APELY sticks out from MRCY in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that APELY is the better option right now.


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