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BBL vs. BHP: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Mining - Miscellaneous stocks are likely familiar with Billiton and BHP (BHP - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Both Billiton and BHP have a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

BBL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.11, while BHP has a forward P/E of 13.67. We also note that BBL has a PEG ratio of 2.68. 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. BHP currently has a PEG ratio of 3.30.

Another notable valuation metric for BBL is its P/B ratio of 1.07. 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, BHP has a P/B of 1.99.

These metrics, and several others, help BBL earn a Value grade of A, while BHP has been given a Value grade of C.

Both BBL and BHP are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that BBL is the superior value option right now.


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