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SON vs. ATR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Containers - Paper and Packaging stocks are likely familiar with Sonoco (SON - Free Report) and AptarGroup (ATR - 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.

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 proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Sonoco has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while AptarGroup has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that SON's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

Value investors also tend to look at a number of traditional, tried-and-true figures to help them find stocks that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

SON currently has a forward P/E ratio of 12.29, while ATR has a forward P/E of 29.16. We also note that SON has a PEG ratio of 2.46. 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. ATR currently has a PEG ratio of 4.17.

Another notable valuation metric for SON is its P/B ratio of 3.04. 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, ATR has a P/B of 3.99.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SON's Value grade of B and ATR's Value grade of C.

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


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