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DOW vs. APD: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Chemical - Diversified sector have probably already heard of Dow Inc. (DOW - Free Report) and Air Products and Chemicals (APD - 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 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.

Currently, Dow Inc. has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Air Products and Chemicals has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that DOW likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than APD has recently. 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

DOW currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.39, while APD has a forward P/E of 30.45. We also note that DOW has a PEG ratio of 0.75. 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. APD currently has a PEG ratio of 3.72.

Another notable valuation metric for DOW is its P/B ratio of 3.46. 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, APD has a P/B of 4.65.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to DOW's Value grade of A and APD's Value grade of C.

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


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