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CSL or RAVN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Diversified Operations stocks have likely encountered both Carlisle (CSL - Free Report) and Raven Industries . 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. 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.

Carlisle has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Raven Industries has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that CSL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

CSL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.94, while RAVN has a forward P/E of 29.59. We also note that CSL has a PEG ratio of 1.40. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. RAVN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.96.

Another notable valuation metric for CSL is its P/B ratio of 2.85. 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, RAVN has a P/B of 5.59.

Based on these metrics and many more, CSL holds a Value grade of B, while RAVN has a Value grade of D.

CSL 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 CSL is likely the superior value option right now.


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