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ST vs. TRNS: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Instruments - Control stocks have likely encountered both Sensata (ST - Free Report) and Transcat, Inc. (TRNS - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, both Sensata and Transcat, Inc. are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. 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.

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.

ST currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.25, while TRNS has a forward P/E of 37.70. We also note that ST has a PEG ratio of 1.47. 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. TRNS currently has a PEG ratio of 4.71.

Another notable valuation metric for ST is its P/B ratio of 3.15. 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, TRNS has a P/B of 6.33.

These metrics, and several others, help ST earn a Value grade of B, while TRNS has been given a Value grade of D.

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


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Sensata Technologies Holding N.V. (ST) - free report >>

Transcat, Inc. (TRNS) - free report >>

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