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ALOT vs. DOCU: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Technology Services sector have probably already heard of AstroNova (ALOT - Free Report) and DocuSign (DOCU - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Right now, AstroNova is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while DocuSign has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that ALOT likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than DOCU has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

ALOT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 42.65, while DOCU has a forward P/E of 170.57. We also note that ALOT has a PEG ratio of 3.55. 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. DOCU currently has a PEG ratio of 4.41.

Another notable valuation metric for ALOT is its P/B ratio of 1.39. 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, DOCU has a P/B of 133.59.

These metrics, and several others, help ALOT earn a Value grade of B, while DOCU has been given a Value grade of F.

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


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