IDCC vs. MSI: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

MSI IDCC

Investors interested in Wireless Equipment stocks are likely familiar with InterDigital (IDCC - Free Report) and Motorola (MSI - 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.

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.

InterDigital has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Motorola has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that IDCC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than MSI 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 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.

IDCC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.19, while MSI has a forward P/E of 26.18. We also note that IDCC has a PEG ratio of 0.93. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. MSI currently has a PEG ratio of 2.53.

Another notable valuation metric for IDCC is its P/B ratio of 4.67. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, MSI has a P/B of 74.33.

These metrics, and several others, help IDCC earn a Value grade of B, while MSI has been given a Value grade of D.

IDCC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that IDCC is likely the superior value option right now.

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