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ACI vs. KMB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Consumer Products - Staples sector might want to consider either Albertsons Companies, Inc. (ACI - Free Report) or Kimberly-Clark (KMB - 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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Albertsons Companies, Inc. and Kimberly-Clark are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. This means that ACI's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

ACI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.89, while KMB has a forward P/E of 22.63. We also note that ACI has a PEG ratio of 0.99. 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. KMB currently has a PEG ratio of 4.53.

Another notable valuation metric for ACI is its P/B ratio of 7.34. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, KMB has a P/B of 66.38.

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

ACI has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than KMB, so it seems like value investors will conclude that ACI is the superior option right now.


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