MNK or AMPH: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

AMPH

Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Generic Drugs sector have probably already heard of Mallinckrodt and Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (AMPH - 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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Mallinckrodt has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that MNK has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its 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.

MNK currently has a forward P/E ratio of 4.05, while AMPH has a forward P/E of 65.91. We also note that MNK has a PEG ratio of 0.39. 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. AMPH currently has a PEG ratio of 2.93.

Another notable valuation metric for MNK is its P/B ratio of 0.35. 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, AMPH has a P/B of 2.76.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to MNK's Value grade of A and AMPH's Value grade of C.

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

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