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CTVA vs. AVO: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Agriculture - Operations sector have probably already heard of Corteva, Inc. (CTVA - Free Report) and Mission Produce, Inc. (AVO - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

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 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.

Corteva, Inc. and Mission Produce, Inc. 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 CTVA is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture 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.

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.

CTVA currently has a forward P/E ratio of 23.93, while AVO has a forward P/E of 31.63. We also note that CTVA has a PEG ratio of 1.52. 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. AVO currently has a PEG ratio of 4.69.

Another notable valuation metric for CTVA is its P/B ratio of 1.71. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, AVO has a P/B of 1.90.

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

CTVA stands above AVO thanks to its solid earnings outlook, and based on these valuation figures, we also feel that CTVA is the superior value option right now.


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