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HSIC or CNMD: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Dental Supplies sector might want to consider either Henry Schein (HSIC - Free Report) or Conmed (CNMD - 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.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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.

Henry Schein and Conmed are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #3 (Hold), respectively, right now. This means that HSIC'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 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.

HSIC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.10, while CNMD has a forward P/E of 46.60. We also note that HSIC has a PEG ratio of 1.28. 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. CNMD currently has a PEG ratio of 3.38.

Another notable valuation metric for HSIC is its P/B ratio of 2.66. 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, CNMD has a P/B of 5.78.

These metrics, and several others, help HSIC earn a Value grade of A, while CNMD has been given a Value grade of C.

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


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