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SAIA vs. ODFL: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Truck stocks are likely familiar with Saia (SAIA - Free Report) and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL - Free Report) . But which of these two companies is the best option for those looking for undervalued stocks? Let's take a closer look.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The proven Zacks Rank puts an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions, while our Style Scores work to identify stocks with specific traits.

Currently, Saia has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Old Dominion Freight Line has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that SAIA has an improving earnings outlook. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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.

SAIA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.84, while ODFL has a forward P/E of 24.74. We also note that SAIA has a PEG ratio of 0.77. 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. ODFL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.46.

Another notable valuation metric for SAIA is its P/B ratio of 4.14. 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, ODFL has a P/B of 9.31.

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

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


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Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL) - free report >>

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