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CBPX vs. PGTI: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Building Products - Miscellaneous stocks have likely encountered both Continental Building Products and PGT . 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Both Continental Building Products and PGT have a Zacks Rank of # 1 (Strong Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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 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.

CBPX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 19.21, while PGTI has a forward P/E of 22.41. We also note that CBPX has a PEG ratio of 0.64. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. PGTI currently has a PEG ratio of 1.16.

Another notable valuation metric for CBPX is its P/B ratio of 4.28. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, PGTI has a P/B of 5.95.

These metrics, and several others, help CBPX earn a Value grade of B, while PGTI has been given a Value grade of C.

Both CBPX and PGTI are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that CBPX is the superior value option right now.