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CE vs. NVZMY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Chemical - Specialty sector might want to consider either Celanese (CE - Free Report) or Novozymes AS (NVZMY - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Celanese and Novozymes AS are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that CE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their 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.

CE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.15, while NVZMY has a forward P/E of 42.05. We also note that CE has a PEG ratio of 0.60. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. NVZMY currently has a PEG ratio of 9.14.

Another notable valuation metric for CE is its P/B ratio of 4.56. 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, NVZMY has a P/B of 12.49.

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

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


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