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COLM or LULU: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Textile - Apparel stocks are likely familiar with Columbia Sportswear (COLM - Free Report) and Lululemon (LULU - 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 favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Columbia Sportswear has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Lululemon has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that COLM'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 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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

COLM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.94, while LULU has a forward P/E of 36.66. We also note that COLM has a PEG ratio of 1.77. 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. LULU currently has a PEG ratio of 1.83.

Another notable valuation metric for COLM is its P/B ratio of 3.01. 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, LULU has a P/B of 16.14.

These metrics, and several others, help COLM earn a Value grade of B, while LULU has been given a Value grade of D.

COLM sticks out from LULU in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that COLM is the better option right now.


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