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QGEN or ILMN: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Biomedical and Genetics sector might want to consider either Qiagen (QGEN - Free Report) or Illumina (ILMN - 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.

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 puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

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

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 Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

QGEN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 21.07, while ILMN has a forward P/E of 63.34. We also note that QGEN has a PEG ratio of 1.84. 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. ILMN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.

Another notable valuation metric for QGEN is its P/B ratio of 3.94. 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, ILMN has a P/B of 11.62.

These metrics, and several others, help QGEN earn a Value grade of B, while ILMN has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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