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QRHC vs. WCN: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Waste Removal Services sector might want to consider either Quest Resource (QRHC - Free Report) or Waste Connections (WCN - 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.

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.

Quest Resource has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Waste Connections has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that QRHC likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than WCN has recently. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.

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 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.

QRHC currently has a forward P/E ratio of 16.70, while WCN has a forward P/E of 34.90. We also note that QRHC has a PEG ratio of 1.11. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. WCN currently has a PEG ratio of 2.76.

Another notable valuation metric for QRHC is its P/B ratio of 2.04. 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, WCN has a P/B of 4.89.

Based on these metrics and many more, QRHC holds a Value grade of B, while WCN has a Value grade of C.

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


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Waste Connections, Inc. (WCN) - free report >>

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