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ACM vs. ALTR: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Engineering - R and D Services stocks are likely familiar with Aecom Technology (ACM - Free Report) and Altair Engineering (ALTR - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

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 is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Aecom Technology and Altair Engineering are sporting Zacks Ranks of #2 (Buy) and #4 (Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that ACM is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle 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 Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

ACM currently has a forward P/E ratio of 21.71, while ALTR has a forward P/E of 72.84. We also note that ACM has a PEG ratio of 1.48. 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. ALTR currently has a PEG ratio of 6.07.

Another notable valuation metric for ACM is its P/B ratio of 4.12. 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, ALTR has a P/B of 7.48.

Based on these metrics and many more, ACM holds a Value grade of B, while ALTR has a Value grade of F.

ACM is currently sporting an improving earnings outlook, which makes it stick out in our Zacks Rank model. And, based on the above valuation metrics, we feel that ACM is likely the superior value option right now.


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