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AIMC vs. IEX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Manufacturing - General Industrial stocks are likely familiar with Altra Industrial Motion and Idex (IEX - 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 emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, both Altra Industrial Motion and Idex are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). Investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook since the Zacks Rank favors companies that have witnessed positive analyst estimate revisions. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when 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.

AIMC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.98, while IEX has a forward P/E of 35.03. We also note that AIMC has a PEG ratio of 1.13. 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. IEX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.92.

Another notable valuation metric for AIMC is its P/B ratio of 1.84. 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, IEX has a P/B of 6.33.

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

Both AIMC and IEX 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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