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AIMC vs. FLS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks have likely encountered both Altra Industrial Motion and Flowserve (FLS - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 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.

Altra Industrial Motion and Flowserve are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that these stocks have improving earnings outlooks. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

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.

AIMC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.65, while FLS has a forward P/E of 24.98. We also note that AIMC has a PEG ratio of 1.18. 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. FLS currently has a PEG ratio of 2.04.

Another notable valuation metric for AIMC is its P/B ratio of 1.91. 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, FLS has a P/B of 3.15.

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

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


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