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AIT or XYL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks are likely familiar with Applied Industrial Technologies (AIT - Free Report) and Xylem (XYL - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 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.

Right now, Applied Industrial Technologies is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Xylem has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that AIT has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 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.

AIT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.48, while XYL has a forward P/E of 26.05. We also note that AIT has a PEG ratio of 1.29. 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. XYL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.45.

Another notable valuation metric for AIT is its P/B ratio of 3.47. 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, XYL has a P/B of 5.38.

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

AIT is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that AIT is likely the superior value option right now.


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Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. (AIT) - free report >>

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