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PPC or HRL: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors with an interest in Food - Meat Products stocks have likely encountered both Pilgrim's Pride (PPC - Free Report) and Hormel Foods (HRL - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's 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 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.

Currently, Pilgrim's Pride has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Hormel Foods has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that PPC has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

PPC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 8.40, while HRL has a forward P/E of 25.98. We also note that PPC has a PEG ratio of 0.92. 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. HRL currently has a PEG ratio of 3.26.

Another notable valuation metric for PPC is its P/B ratio of 2.16. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, HRL has a P/B of 3.85.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to PPC's Value grade of A and HRL's Value grade of C.

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


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