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RUSHA vs. CRMT: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales stocks have likely encountered both Rush Enterprises (RUSHA - Free Report) and America's Car-Mart (CRMT - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Both Rush Enterprises and America's Car-Mart have a Zacks Rank of # 1 (Strong Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

RUSHA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.96, while CRMT has a forward P/E of 13.75. We also note that RUSHA has a PEG ratio of 0.66. 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. CRMT currently has a PEG ratio of 0.70.

Another notable valuation metric for RUSHA is its P/B ratio of 1.23. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, CRMT has a P/B of 2.18.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to RUSHA's Value grade of A and CRMT's Value grade of C.

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


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Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHA) - free report >>

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