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WERN vs. JBHT: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Truck stocks are likely familiar with Werner Enterprises (WERN - Free Report) and JB Hunt (JBHT - 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.

Werner Enterprises and JB Hunt are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

WERN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.40, while JBHT has a forward P/E of 25.06. We also note that WERN has a PEG ratio of 1.11. 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. JBHT currently has a PEG ratio of 1.67.

Another notable valuation metric for WERN is its P/B ratio of 2.47. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, JBHT has a P/B of 6.39.

Based on these metrics and many more, WERN holds a Value grade of A, while JBHT has a Value grade of C.

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


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J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) - free report >>

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN) - free report >>

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