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BRC vs. ALLE: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Security and Safety Services sector might want to consider either Brady (BRC - Free Report) or Allegion (ALLE - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Right now, Brady is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Allegion has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that BRC has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

BRC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 17.57, while ALLE has a forward P/E of 25.53. We also note that BRC has a PEG ratio of 2.51. 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. ALLE currently has a PEG ratio of 3.68.

Another notable valuation metric for BRC is its P/B ratio of 2.97. 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, ALLE has a P/B of 15.72.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to BRC's Value grade of B and ALLE's Value grade of C.

BRC is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that BRC is likely the superior value option right now.


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