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URI or JHX: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Building Products - Miscellaneous sector have probably already heard of United Rentals (URI - Free Report) and James Hardie (JHX - 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.

Currently, United Rentals has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while James Hardie has a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that URI is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. 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 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.

URI currently has a forward P/E ratio of 9.55, while JHX has a forward P/E of 15.20. We also note that URI has a PEG ratio of 0.58. 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. JHX currently has a PEG ratio of 5.41.

Another notable valuation metric for URI is its P/B ratio of 3.91. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, JHX has a P/B of 5.86.

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

URI sticks out from JHX in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that URI is the better option right now.


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