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KN or VCRA: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Communication - Components stocks have likely encountered both Knowles (KN - Free Report) and Vocera Communications . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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.

Knowles and Vocera Communications are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy), respectively, right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that KN has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 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.

KN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.93, while VCRA has a forward P/E of 90.18. We also note that KN has a PEG ratio of 1.29. 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. VCRA currently has a PEG ratio of 5.01.

Another notable valuation metric for KN is its P/B ratio of 1.37. 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, VCRA has a P/B of 17.06.

Based on these metrics and many more, KN holds a Value grade of B, while VCRA has a Value grade of F.

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


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