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HPE vs. ITI: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Computer - Integrated Systems sector have probably already heard of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE - Free Report) and Iteris (ITI - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? 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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Iteris has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that HPE's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

HPE currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.36, while ITI has a forward P/E of 23.78. We also note that HPE has a PEG ratio of 0.80. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. ITI currently has a PEG ratio of 1.59.

Another notable valuation metric for HPE is its P/B ratio of 1.15. 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, ITI has a P/B of 2.80.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to HPE's Value grade of A and ITI's Value grade of C.

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


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