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FUL vs. ECL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Chemical - Specialty stocks have likely encountered both H. B. Fuller (FUL - Free Report) and Ecolab (ECL - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great 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.

H. B. Fuller and Ecolab are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that FUL is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 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.

FUL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.99, while ECL has a forward P/E of 48.06. We also note that FUL has a PEG ratio of 2.43. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. ECL currently has a PEG ratio of 4.79.

Another notable valuation metric for FUL is its P/B ratio of 2.08. 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, ECL has a P/B of 9.57.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to FUL's Value grade of B and ECL's Value grade of F.

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


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