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CECO vs. CWST: Which Stock Should Value Investors Buy Now?

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Investors interested in Pollution Control stocks are likely familiar with CECO Environmental (CECO - Free Report) and Casella (CWST - Free Report) . 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.

Currently, CECO Environmental has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Casella has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This means that CECO's earnings estimate revision activity has been more impressive, so investors should feel comfortable with its improving analyst outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

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.

CECO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.03, while CWST has a forward P/E of 62.82. We also note that CECO has a PEG ratio of 1. 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. CWST currently has a PEG ratio of 2.97.

Another notable valuation metric for CECO is its P/B ratio of 2.37. 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, CWST has a P/B of 8.67.

These metrics, and several others, help CECO earn a Value grade of B, while CWST has been given a Value grade of D.

CECO 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 CECO is likely the superior value option right now.


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CECO Environmental Corp. (CECO) - free report >>

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