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GEF vs. ATR: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors with an interest in Containers - Paper and Packaging stocks have likely encountered both Greif (GEF - Free Report) and AptarGroup (ATR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Right now, Greif is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while AptarGroup has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell). This means that GEF'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 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.

GEF currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.37, while ATR has a forward P/E of 31.56. We also note that GEF has a PEG ratio of 1.24. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. ATR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.51.

Another notable valuation metric for GEF is its P/B ratio of 2.10. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, ATR has a P/B of 4.14.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to GEF's Value grade of A and ATR's Value grade of D.

GEF stands above ATR thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that GEF is the superior value option right now.


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