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ALOT or TRI: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Technology Services sector might want to consider either AstroNova (ALOT - Free Report) or Thomson Reuters (TRI - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, AstroNova has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Thomson Reuters has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This means that ALOT'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.

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.

ALOT currently has a forward P/E ratio of 40, while TRI has a forward P/E of 55.42. We also note that ALOT has a PEG ratio of 3.33. 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. TRI currently has a PEG ratio of 4.60.

Another notable valuation metric for ALOT is its P/B ratio of 1.53. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, TRI has a P/B of 3.52.

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

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


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