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CCE vs. CCHGY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Beverages - Soft drinks sector might want to consider either Coca-Cola Enterprises or COCA-COLA HBC (CCHGY - 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.

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.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while COCA-COLA HBC 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 CCE has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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 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.

CCE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.02, while CCHGY has a forward P/E of 20.70. We also note that CCE has a PEG ratio of 2.18. 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. CCHGY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.59.

Another notable valuation metric for CCE is its P/B ratio of 2.66. 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, CCHGY has a P/B of 3.23.

Based on these metrics and many more, CCE holds a Value grade of B, while CCHGY has a Value grade of C.

CCE sticks out from CCHGY in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that CCE is the better option right now.


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