EXEL or ILMN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

ILMN EXEL

Investors interested in Medical - Biomedical and Genetics stocks are likely familiar with Exelixis (EXEL - Free Report) and Illumina (ILMN - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Exelixis has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Illumina has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that EXEL's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

EXEL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.53, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 163.04. We also note that EXEL has a PEG ratio of 0.56. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 8.37.

Another notable valuation metric for EXEL is its P/B ratio of 2.45. 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, ILMN has a P/B of 5.46.

Based on these metrics and many more, EXEL holds a Value grade of B, while ILMN has a Value grade of D.

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

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