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PH vs. IEX: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in stocks from the Manufacturing - General Industrial sector have probably already heard of Parker-Hannifin (PH - Free Report) and Idex (IEX - 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.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. 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.

Right now, Parker-Hannifin is sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Idex has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold). This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that PH is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is only part of the picture for value investors.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

PH currently has a forward P/E ratio of 15.94, while IEX has a forward P/E of 24.80. We also note that PH has a PEG ratio of 1.35. 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. IEX currently has a PEG ratio of 2.07.

Another notable valuation metric for PH is its P/B ratio of 4.29. 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, IEX has a P/B of 5.38.

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

PH has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than IEX, so it seems like value investors will conclude that PH is the superior option right now.


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