GBX vs. WAB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

GBX WAB

Investors looking for stocks in the Transportation - Equipment and Leasing sector might want to consider either Greenbrier Companies (GBX - Free Report) or Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB - 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Greenbrier Companies has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that GBX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WAB has recently. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

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.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

GBX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.25, while WAB has a forward P/E of 28.02. We also note that GBX has a PEG ratio of 1.39. 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. WAB currently has a PEG ratio of 2.44.

Another notable valuation metric for GBX is its P/B ratio of 1.33. 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, WAB has a P/B of 3.65.

Based on these metrics and many more, GBX holds a Value grade of A, while WAB has a Value grade of D.

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

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