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CRI or NKE: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Shoes and Retail Apparel stocks have likely encountered both Carter's (CRI - Free Report) and Nike (NKE - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Carter's and Nike are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that CRI likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than NKE has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 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.

CRI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.51, while NKE has a forward P/E of 31.74. We also note that CRI has a PEG ratio of 1.56. 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. NKE currently has a PEG ratio of 2.78.

Another notable valuation metric for CRI is its P/B ratio of 5.37. 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, NKE has a P/B of 13.59.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to CRI's Value grade of A and NKE's Value grade of D.

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


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