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SON vs. ATR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Containers - Paper and Packaging stocks are likely familiar with Sonoco (SON - Free Report) and AptarGroup (ATR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Sonoco and AptarGroup are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether 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.

SON currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.56, while ATR has a forward P/E of 33.75. We also note that SON has a PEG ratio of 3.51. 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. ATR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.82.

Another notable valuation metric for SON is its P/B ratio of 3.27. 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, ATR has a P/B of 5.10.

Based on these metrics and many more, SON holds a Value grade of B, while ATR has a Value grade of D.

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


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