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MOH vs. JYNT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - HMOs sector have probably already heard of Molina (MOH - Free Report) and The Joint Corp. (JYNT - 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.

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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Molina has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while The Joint Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that MOH is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

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.

MOH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.72, while JYNT has a forward P/E of 82.05. We also note that MOH has a PEG ratio of 1.18. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. JYNT currently has a PEG ratio of 8.20.

Another notable valuation metric for MOH is its P/B ratio of 5.52. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, JYNT has a P/B of 97.84.

These metrics, and several others, help MOH earn a Value grade of A, while JYNT has been given a Value grade of D.

MOH stands above JYNT thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that MOH is the superior value option right now.


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Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) - free report >>

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