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FERGY vs. ITW: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks have likely encountered both Wolseley PLC and Illinois Tool Works (ITW - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive 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.

Wolseley PLC has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Illinois Tool Works has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that FERGY'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 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.

FERGY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.69, while ITW has a forward P/E of 34.65. We also note that FERGY has a PEG ratio of 4.09. 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. ITW currently has a PEG ratio of 4.57.

Another notable valuation metric for FERGY is its P/B ratio of 4.65. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, ITW has a P/B of 25.26.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to FERGY's Value grade of A and ITW's Value grade of D.

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


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