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USDP or UNP: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Rail stocks are likely familiar with USD Partners LP (USDP - Free Report) and Union Pacific (UNP - 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.

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.

USD Partners LP has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Union Pacific 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 USDP has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

USDP currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.78, while UNP has a forward P/E of 19.93. We also note that USDP has a PEG ratio of 1.94. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. UNP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.99.

Another notable valuation metric for USDP is its P/B ratio of 9.60. 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, UNP has a P/B of 12.25.

Based on these metrics and many more, USDP holds a Value grade of A, while UNP has a Value grade of D.

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


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