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ARCB vs. SAIA: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Truck stocks are likely familiar with ArcBest (ARCB - Free Report) and Saia (SAIA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 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.

ArcBest and Saia are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 1 (Strong Buy) right now. This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

ARCB currently has a forward P/E ratio of 11.43, while SAIA has a forward P/E of 25.83. We also note that ARCB has a PEG ratio of 0.25. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. SAIA currently has a PEG ratio of 0.72.

Another notable valuation metric for ARCB is its P/B ratio of 2.75. 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, SAIA has a P/B of 6.73.

These metrics, and several others, help ARCB earn a Value grade of B, while SAIA has been given a Value grade of F.

Both ARCB and SAIA are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that ARCB is the superior value option right now.


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