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SHEL or CVX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Oil and Gas - Integrated - International sector have probably already heard of Shell (SHEL - Free Report) and Chevron (CVX - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Shell and Chevron are both sporting a Zacks Rank of # 1 (Strong Buy) right now. The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that both of these companies have improving earnings outlooks. But this is only part of the picture 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 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.

SHEL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 6.41, while CVX has a forward P/E of 9.76. We also note that SHEL has a PEG ratio of 0.80. 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. CVX currently has a PEG ratio of 0.85.

Another notable valuation metric for SHEL is its P/B ratio of 1.25. 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, CVX has a P/B of 2.31.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SHEL's Value grade of B and CVX's Value grade of D.

Both SHEL and CVX are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that SHEL is the superior value option right now.


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