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SJI vs. OGS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Utility - Gas Distribution sector might want to consider either South Jersey Industries or ONE Gas (OGS - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

South Jersey Industries has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while ONE Gas has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that SJI has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

SJI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.75, while OGS has a forward P/E of 19.73. We also note that SJI has a PEG ratio of 2.90. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. OGS currently has a PEG ratio of 3.95.

Another notable valuation metric for SJI is its P/B ratio of 1.48. 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, OGS has a P/B of 1.72.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SJI's Value grade of B and OGS's Value grade of D.

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


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