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NVEE vs. HCKT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Consulting Services sector have probably already heard of NV5 Holdings (NVEE - Free Report) and Hackett Group (HCKT - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

NV5 Holdings and Hackett Group are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that NVEE likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than HCKT has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

NVEE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 20.98, while HCKT has a forward P/E of 22.93. We also note that NVEE has a PEG ratio of 1.47. 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. HCKT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.70.

Another notable valuation metric for NVEE is its P/B ratio of 2.25. 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, HCKT has a P/B of 2.95.

Based on these metrics and many more, NVEE holds a Value grade of B, while HCKT has a Value grade of C.

NVEE has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than HCKT, so it seems like value investors will conclude that NVEE is the superior option right now.


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The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT) - free report >>

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