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GILD or VIR: 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 Gilead Sciences (GILD - Free Report) or Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (VIR - 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.

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.

Gilead Sciences has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Vir Biotechnology, Inc. 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 GILD has an improving earnings 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.

GILD currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.04, while VIR has a forward P/E of 24.61. We also note that GILD has a PEG ratio of 0.75. 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. VIR currently has a PEG ratio of 2.23.

Another notable valuation metric for GILD is its P/B ratio of 4.26. 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, VIR has a P/B of 5.87.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to GILD's Value grade of A and VIR's Value grade of D.

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


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