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JEC vs. WEGRY: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Engineering - R and D Services sector might want to consider either Jacobs Engineering or WEIR GROUP PLC (WEGRY - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

Currently, Jacobs Engineering has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while WEIR GROUP PLC has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that JEC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WEGRY has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

JEC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.04, while WEGRY has a forward P/E of 18.10. We also note that JEC has a PEG ratio of 1.17. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. WEGRY currently has a PEG ratio of 1.45.

Another notable valuation metric for JEC is its P/B ratio of 1.86. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, WEGRY has a P/B of 2.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to JEC's Value grade of B and WEGRY's Value grade of C.

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


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