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ZBH vs. ABT: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors looking for stocks in the Medical - Products sector might want to consider either Zimmer Biomet (ZBH - Free Report) or Abbott (ABT - 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.

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.

Currently, Zimmer Biomet has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Abbott has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that ZBH has an improving earnings outlook. But this is only part of the picture 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.

ZBH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 18.29, while ABT has a forward P/E of 25.23. We also note that ZBH has a PEG ratio of 2.39. 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. ABT currently has a PEG ratio of 4.96.

Another notable valuation metric for ZBH is its P/B ratio of 2.18. 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, ABT has a P/B of 5.37.

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

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


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