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WWD vs. BMI: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Instruments - Control stocks are likely familiar with Woodward (WWD - Free Report) and Badger Meter (BMI - 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 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.

Woodward and Badger Meter are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. 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 highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

WWD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.61, while BMI has a forward P/E of 29.48. We also note that WWD has a PEG ratio of 1.40. 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. BMI currently has a PEG ratio of 3.28.

Another notable valuation metric for WWD is its P/B ratio of 3.06. 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, BMI has a P/B of 5.07.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to WWD's Value grade of B and BMI's Value grade of D.

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


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Badger Meter, Inc. (BMI) - free report >>

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