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BASFY vs. AIQUY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with BASF SE (BASFY - Free Report) and Air Liquide (AIQUY - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

BASF SE has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Air Liquide has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that BASFY likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than AIQUY has recently. But this is only part of the picture 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.

BASFY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.49, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 27.99. We also note that BASFY has a PEG ratio of 1.12. 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. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 4.87.

Another notable valuation metric for BASFY is its P/B ratio of 1.52. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, AIQUY has a P/B of 3.88.

Based on these metrics and many more, BASFY holds a Value grade of B, while AIQUY has a Value grade of C.

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


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