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PAA or MMP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Oil and Gas - Production Pipeline - MLB sector might want to consider either Plains All American Pipeline (PAA - Free Report) or Magellan Midstream Partners . 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Plains All American Pipeline and Magellan Midstream Partners 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 PAA is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

PAA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.32, while MMP has a forward P/E of 16.82. We also note that PAA has a PEG ratio of 1.96. 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. MMP currently has a PEG ratio of 2.80.

Another notable valuation metric for PAA is its P/B ratio of 1.93. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, MMP has a P/B of 7.24.

These metrics, and several others, help PAA earn a Value grade of A, while MMP has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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