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UTHR or ESALY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Medical - Drugs sector have probably already heard of United Therapeutics (UTHR - Free Report) and Eisai Co. . But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? 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 Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

United Therapeutics has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Eisai Co. has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. Investors should feel comfortable knowing that UTHR likely has seen a stronger improvement to its earnings outlook than ESALY has recently. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies 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.

UTHR currently has a forward P/E ratio of 14.70, while ESALY has a forward P/E of 40.04. We also note that UTHR has a PEG ratio of 1.63. 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. ESALY currently has a PEG ratio of 3.05.

Another notable valuation metric for UTHR is its P/B ratio of 2.76. 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, ESALY has a P/B of 3.01.

These metrics, and several others, help UTHR earn a Value grade of B, while ESALY has been given a Value grade of C.

UTHR 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 UTHR is likely the superior value option right now.


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