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FLEX vs. TRMB: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors with an interest in Electronics - Miscellaneous Products stocks have likely encountered both Flex (FLEX - Free Report) and Trimble Navigation (TRMB - 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.

Flex has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Trimble Navigation has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that FLEX likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than TRMB has recently. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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 grades stocks based on a number of key metrics, including the tried-and-true P/E ratio, the P/S ratio, earnings yield, and cash flow per share, as well as a variety of other fundamentals that value investors frequently use.

FLEX currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.04, while TRMB has a forward P/E of 21.33. We also note that FLEX has a PEG ratio of 0.71. 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. TRMB currently has a PEG ratio of 1.68.

Another notable valuation metric for FLEX is its P/B ratio of 2.23. 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, TRMB has a P/B of 3.62.

Based on these metrics and many more, FLEX holds a Value grade of A, while TRMB has a Value grade of D.

FLEX 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 FLEX is likely the superior value option right now.


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