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OCPNY or IDXX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Medical - Instruments stocks are likely familiar with Olympus Corp. and Idexx Laboratories (IDXX - Free Report) . 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Currently, Olympus Corp. has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while Idexx Laboratories has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that OCPNY'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.

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.

OCPNY currently has a forward P/E ratio of 21.65, while IDXX has a forward P/E of 45.36. We also note that OCPNY has a PEG ratio of 1.76. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. IDXX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.38.

Another notable valuation metric for OCPNY is its P/B ratio of 5.93. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, IDXX has a P/B of 49.50.

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

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


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