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UTX vs. RAVN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Diversified Operations stocks have likely encountered both United Technologies and Raven Industries . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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.

United Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Raven Industries 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 UTX has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether 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.

UTX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.66, while RAVN has a forward P/E of 24.40. We also note that UTX has a PEG ratio of 2.05. 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. RAVN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.44.

Another notable valuation metric for UTX is its P/B ratio of 3.23. 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, RAVN has a P/B of 4.75.

These metrics, and several others, help UTX earn a Value grade of B, while RAVN has been given a Value grade of D.

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