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UNVR vs. RDSMY: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Chemical - Diversified sector might want to consider either Univar or Koninklijke DSM NV . 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Univar has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Koninklijke DSM NV has a Zacks Rank of #5 (Strong Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that UNVR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than RDSMY has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

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.

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.

UNVR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.56, while RDSMY has a forward P/E of 27.92. We also note that UNVR has a PEG ratio of 0.61. 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. RDSMY currently has a PEG ratio of 2.59.

Another notable valuation metric for UNVR is its P/B ratio of 2.10. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, RDSMY has a P/B of 2.67.

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

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

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