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CX or MLM: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Building Products - Concrete and Aggregates sector might want to consider either Cemex (CX - Free Report) or Martin Marietta (MLM - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Cemex has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Martin Marietta 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 CX has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

CX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.45, while MLM has a forward P/E of 27.03. We also note that CX has a PEG ratio of 0.76. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. MLM currently has a PEG ratio of 2.02.

Another notable valuation metric for CX is its P/B ratio of 0.73. 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, MLM has a P/B of 3.59.

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

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


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Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (CX) - free report >>

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM) - free report >>

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