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HUN vs. APD: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with Huntsman (HUN - Free Report) and Air Products and Chemicals (APD - 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.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Huntsman and Air Products and Chemicals are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that HUN has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

HUN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.98, while APD has a forward P/E of 23.94. We also note that HUN has a PEG ratio of 0.18. 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. APD currently has a PEG ratio of 2.28.

Another notable valuation metric for HUN is its P/B ratio of 1.80. 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, APD has a P/B of 4.22.

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

HUN 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 HUN is likely the superior value option right now.


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Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD) - free report >>

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