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CRI vs. NKE: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Shoes and Retail Apparel stocks have likely encountered both Carter's (CRI - Free Report) and Nike (NKE - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Carter's has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Nike has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This means that CRI's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

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.

CRI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 10.77, while NKE has a forward P/E of 34.87. We also note that CRI has a PEG ratio of 1.03. 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. NKE currently has a PEG ratio of 2.47.

Another notable valuation metric for CRI is its P/B ratio of 4.28. 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, NKE has a P/B of 13.50.

These metrics, and several others, help CRI earn a Value grade of A, while NKE has been given a Value grade of D.

CRI is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that CRI is likely the superior value option right now.


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