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VSTA vs. MLNK: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Technology Services sector have probably already heard of Vasta Platform Limited (VSTA - Free Report) and MeridianLink (MLNK - 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.

Vasta Platform Limited has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while MeridianLink 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 VSTA 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.

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.

VSTA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 24.60, while MLNK has a forward P/E of 48.32. We also note that VSTA has a PEG ratio of 0.84. 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. MLNK currently has a PEG ratio of 1.13.

Another notable valuation metric for VSTA is its P/B ratio of 0.54. 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, MLNK has a P/B of 2.87.

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

VSTA has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than MLNK, so it seems like value investors will conclude that VSTA is the superior option right now.


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