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SRCL or WM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Waste Removal Services stocks have likely encountered both Stericycle (SRCL - Free Report) and Waste Management (WM - 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.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Stericycle and Waste Management are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that SRCL 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 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

SRCL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 22.79, while WM has a forward P/E of 30.79. We also note that SRCL has a PEG ratio of 2.85. 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. WM currently has a PEG ratio of 3.22.

Another notable valuation metric for SRCL is its P/B ratio of 1.93. 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, WM has a P/B of 12.37.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SRCL's Value grade of B and WM's Value grade of C.

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


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Stericycle, Inc. (SRCL) - free report >>

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