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ARCB vs. LSTR: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Transportation - Truck sector have probably already heard of ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) and Landstar System (LSTR - 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.

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 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.

ArcBest and Landstar System are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

ARCB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.54, while LSTR has a forward P/E of 25.68. We also note that ARCB has a PEG ratio of 1.15. 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. LSTR currently has a PEG ratio of 2.14.

Another notable valuation metric for ARCB is its P/B ratio of 2.20. 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, LSTR has a P/B of 9.32.

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

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


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